Lawsuit Claims Wife Set Off Gas Explosion

A Lakewood man has filed a lawsuit contending that his estranged wife deliberately set off the gas explosion that maimed her and their two children.

The suit is supported by the affidavit of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson investigator who said the explosion was deliberately touched off and the “primary suspect” in the case is Debra J. Bell, 36, the mother of Kizzie Bell, 7, and Charles Edward Bell Jr., 6.

However, no charges have been filed in the case.

The fiery explosion that tore through the home in the 4500 block of Eastbrook Avenue on Sept. 24, 1991, attracted widespread attention after Southern California Gas Co. officials admitted that the company had failed to send a service representative out after a neighbor called to complain about a loud hissing noise.

Forty-eight hours after the call, the explosion sent Debra Bell, her daughter and son to the Sherman Oaks Community Hospital Burn Center with burns over 60% to 80% of their bodies.

The children, now in the custody of their father, Charles Edward Bell Sr., have received settlements from the gas company of more than $1 million apiece.

On Nov. 2, Debra Bell accepted a $975,000 settlement from the gas company. However, about two weeks ago, Paul Kiesel, an attorney for the father and the children, filed a law suit seeking to have Debra Bell’s settlement placed in a trust for the children.

In the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Nov. 4, Charles Bell Sr. claims that Debra Bell “willfully and intentionally manipulated, altered, cut, destroyed and/or damaged the gas equipment (in the home) so that natural gas would leak into and around the premises.”

The suit alleges that after stuffing a towel in the mail slot in the front door of the premises, presumably to block the escape of any leaking gas, Debra Bell intentionally touched off the explosion.

The suit does not supply any motive. However, Kiesel said Charles Bell’s sworn declaration states that Debra Bell telephoned him shortly before the explosion and told him: “After tonight, you will not have to worry about me or the kids ever again.”

In his affidavit, Sheriff’s Deputy Terry Danielson says that a flexible gas line to the kitchen stove was the apparent source of the leak. Examination of the line showed that it had fresh cut marks on it, Danielson said.

The deputy said he found wire-stripper pliers in the kitchen and found fragments of what appeared to be material from the gas line on them. Danielson said he found the towel in the mail slot.

Before Debra Bell was taken to the hospital, he said, another deputy heard her say, “Why did I do it?”

Neither Debra Bell nor her attorney, Eric Ferrer, could be reached for comment Friday night.

According to wire service reports, Ferrer states in court papers that after an attempted reconciliation of the couple fell through recently, Charles Bell told his wife: “Now what’s yours is mine.”