Grant Ritchey
Ashland Times-Gazette
POLK A man who was seriously injured in a basement explosion and fire on May 6 near the 200 block of County Road 800 is in stable condition, after suffering third-, second- and first-degree burns.
The man is in the intensive care unit of a Columbus-area hospital and is expected to be transferred out of the ICU soon, a family member said.
Before the explosion, the man was packaging fertilizer in his basement where the fire occurred, the family member said. The incident is still under investigation, but the fire is going to be classified as accidental, Brian Bohnert, public information officer of Ohio Department of Commerce, which includes the State Fire Marshal s Office, said in an email. I m not sure if you are aware, but the homeowner was manufacturing sanitizing/deodorizing pouches in addition to the fertilizer, and we believe the source of the fire to be those pouches. We don t know exactly what caused the explosion and subsequen