WALNUT CREEK (KRON) — A man has died after an explosion at a Walnut Creek apartment on Wednesday night.
The elderly man was given CPR, as he was rushed to John Muir Medical Center. He has been identified as 91-year-old Wesley Peters, according to the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office.
At about 6:30 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to an apartment complex in the 200 block of Tono Way, located in an unincorporated area between Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, Fire Marshal Robert Marshall said.
When crews arrived, they discovered an apartment unit on fire and received reports that a person was still inside.
Peters was burned and not breathing when firefighters pulled him from his burning home.
Peters was taken to the hospital where he died.
Peters lived at the Walnut Creek manor apartments on Mayhew Way right off Interstate 680 near the Pleasant Hill border.
Investigators say a propane tank is to blame.
“Some of the initial 911 calls were of an explosion,” Marshall said. “The propane inside did pressurize the structure to the point where the windows blew out. I don’t know that it was really an explosion, but there was definitely a flashback from the gas inside the apartment.”
HazMat teams responded.
No one else at the apartment complex was hurt.
The fire was under control by 6:43 p.m., Marshall said.
The exact cause of the explosion and fire are still under investigation and no other injuries were reported.
CA-Walnut Creek
