Small explosion chars shed

A Costa Mesa nursing home employee was trying to cook himself a meal in a storage shed behind a nursing home Friday when his propane canister exploded, burning him and setting the shed on fire.

The 22-year-old employee suffered burns on his face and arms and was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Costa Mesa Fire Battalion Chief Keith Jones said. Jones was unsure whether the injuries were life-threatening, and he could not release the employee’s name because of privacy laws.

“He was getting ready to do some cooking in the maintenance shed,” Jones said. “He was trying to light [gas] off the tank, and it caused an explosion.”

Costa Mesa firefighters responded to the blaze at 12:04 p.m. at the Victoria Healthcare Center, 340 Victoria Blvd. Police closed off the thoroughfare for about an hour as firefighters put out the blaze, stopped a flow of debris and water from the shed, and cleaned out the gutted structure.

Jones estimated the damage to the shed at about $70,000. Firefighters were carrying out ruined appliances and cutting burnt wood off the structure with chain saws.

The fire was confined to the shed, which is separated from the rest of the nursing home by a parking lot. The nursing home was not evacuated.