A lawsuit was recently filed based on a tragic October 2024 explosion in Ellsworth, Ohio. Four people were killed in the explosion, which demolished their residence. Window World, a home improvement company, is the defendant. The propane supplier was not sued.
Propane Appliances
The explosion happened at the residence of Jeffery and Joann Kocanyar, a couple in their late 60s who had owned the house for over 20 years. There were two propane appliances in the house — a furnace and a fireplace.
According to reports, the fireplace was rarely, if ever, used by the Kocanyars, and there is no evidence it was being used on the day of the incident. It is unclear whether the furnace was operating at that time.
Propane was supplied to the house from a 500-gallon tank located in the backyard. The record is unclear as to who owned the tank. The last delivery to the tank was made on March 18, 2024, over six months before the explosion. Just under 250 gallons were delivered, making it unlikely this was an out-of-gas delivery. The propane was provided by Salem Propane, a local distributor.
Prior to Oct. 4, the Kocanyars’ daughter, Julie Lubic, arrived from Chicago with her husband Adam. It was their first wedding anniversary, and they planned to spend it with Julie’s parents in Ellsworth. They were staying in the residence at the time of the explosion.
Vinyl Siding
Also at some point prior to Oct. 4, the Kocanyars decided to have vinyl siding installed over the wood siding on their house. They hired Window World, a local home improvement company, to do this work. The Window World crew arrived at about 9 a.m. on Oct. 4. They first set up scaffolding beside the two-story structure and then began to apply Tyvek “house wrap” over the original wood siding. The plan was to then install the vinyl siding over the Tyvek material.
Broken Water Line
All seemed to go normally through the course of the day. Neighbors heard loud banging from the house, but this would not be that unusual for the installation of vinyl siding. However, later in the day, a neighbor was cutting his grass when he observed Jeff Kocanyar and his “son” (apparently son-in-law Adam) outside on the deck behind the house. The neighbor later gave a statement to an investigator from the state fire marshal’s office:
“Jeff was on the back deck erecting a very long, approximately 20-25 feet (almost) to the top of his two-story house — looked to be a silver pole. Then he and his son took it toward the front of his house.”
This “silver pole” is not identified in the record of the state fire marshal’s investigation. However, it could well be a damaged water pipe that was being removed rather than erected. Just before 4:30 p.m., Joann texted the owner of Window World. The project manager for Window World was interviewed by the state fire marshal investigator, who stated in his report:
“Travis [the Window World manager] explained that at 1626 hours, he had received a text message, as well as photographs, from Joanne Kocanyar stating that Window World crews had accidentally broken a water pipe within the basement of the residence. Kocanyar shared seven photographs of the broken pipe that was located within the interior northeast corner of the structure. This PVC pipe identified was utilized for an outdoor water spigot on the outside of the residence located at the northeast corner. Kocanyar stated in her message that her husband, Jeff, was going to the hardware store to purchase the materials to fix the pipe and that she was just bringing it to his attention.”
The water line break was bad enough that there was flooding in the basement. It is not clear from the state fire marshal’s report or from any other reports of the incident how the Window World crew damaged a water line inside the basement when it was installing siding on the outside of the residence. However, there is nothing in the public record suggesting that this did not happen.
In any event, it appears that Jeff Kocanyar was able to fix the water line by the end of the day. The Window World crew continued to work at the site until about 7 p.m.
Explosion
The next morning, an explosion destroyed the Kocanyar residence. The first alarm at the fire department was at 7:20 a.m. and the Window World crew had not yet arrived to continue the siding work.
It was a massive explosion. The state fire marshal report describes a large debris field extending 360 degrees from the building. Several photographs that accompany the report show a huge area of debris with no evidence of anything left of the residence. The report states that the basement foundation walls were all that remained of the two-story structure.
Joann and Jeff Kocanyar, as well as Julie Lubic, were found dead at the scene. Adam Lubic was found alive and was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died shortly thereafter. Family members have said that Joann and Jeff would certainly have been up and moving around the house at the time of the explosion.
Lawsuit
The state fire marshal’s report states that the “most probable cause of this incident is an explosion due to propane leak.” However, the report does not identify the source of the leak or the source of ignition.
On March 26, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of the families of the Kocanyars and Lubics. From news reports, Window World appears to be the only defendant. Understandably, it does not appear that the propane supplier was sued.
At the core of the lawsuit is the plaintiffs’ allegation that the Window World crew severed a propane line inside the basement. At this point, there is no direct evidence of that in the public record. Certainly, the state fire marshal report does not reach this conclusion.
On the other hand, the crew apparently did break a water line inside the basement, where gas lines were also located. So, it is entirely plausible that the crew broke a gas line in addition to the water line.
Alleged Negligence
Plaintiffs contend that Window World’s negligence caused the gas line leak. Among other things, they argue that Window World should have conducted an inspection to identify the location of all gas lines in the house and should have turned off the propane supply at the tank before starting work. It adds that Window World was negligent in failing to train its employees in the proper way to work around gas lines.
It will be some time before this lawsuit goes to trial. And the fact remains that most cases like this are settled before trial. That may well happen with this lawsuit. In the meantime, this suit stands as a reminder that not every serious propane explosion results in litigation against the propane distributor.
