Man Spraying Lacquer Hurt as Water Heater Explodes

A 56-year-old Valencia man who was helping his son remodel a kitchen was injured Saturday in an explosion and fire that destroyed the son’s house.

Joe Rovo, 56, was spraying lacquer onto the cabinets about 1:30 p.m. when fumes from the substance caused a gas water heater in the garage to explode, said Capt. Harry Thy of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The fire caused by the explosion quickly spread, he said.

“We were painting, and there was an explosion,” said Rovo’s son, Mike Gill, 39, of Saugus. “We really don’t know what happened. I was in the garage, and my father was in the kitchen.”

Rovo was burned on his face, forearms and neck and was listed in stable condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. He suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns, authorities said.

“He’s coherent,” a shaken Gill said. “My father’s going to be OK.”

Gill suffered minor injuries in the mishap.

Thy said damage to the house in the 22500 block of Festividad Drive was about $150,000. “It was a total loss,” he said.

Thy estimated that furniture and other items lost in the fire, including two 1957 Chevrolets in the garage, were worth about $50,000.

Gill said he was restoring one of the automobiles and using the other for parts.

No one else was injured, authorities said.