Natural Gas Blast Critically Injures Disaster Volunteer

A Red Cross volunteer who has helped scores of natural disaster victims is now in critical condition at a Torrance burn center after his home exploded early Wednesday.

Kelley Becker, 32, was lighting a cigarette just after 1:30 a.m. when his studio apartment in the 200 block of East Lewis Street blew up. The lifelong Ventura resident suffered second- and third-degree burns to most of his body.

“Considering that he was right at the center of it when it went up and the force of the explosion was able to move two walls right off the foundation, his survival seems to be somewhat of a miracle actually,” said Mike Maher, battalion chief for the Ventura Fire Department, who responded to the call.

Fire officials said the blast that blew the front door off the small house and melted two plastic lawn chairs was caused by a natural gas leak.

“It was flex line to the stove and it was completely blown off so we’re suspecting that that was the point of origin to the leak,” said Battalion Chief Bill Rigg.

Becker was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center and then transferred to the Torrance Medical Burn Center, where he is on a ventilator and is being treated for burns.

“He can’t speak or anything. He doesn’t even look like himself,” said his sister, Kristi Becker-Monahan, from the burn center.

The prognosis for Becker, whose birthday is at the end of the month, remains uncertain.

“It’s really too soon to tell,” said Laurie Lundberg, a burn center spokeswoman. “It’s very much not out of the woods and his condition is very guarded.”

A loud crash and screaming woke up the residents in the main house on the lot.

Robert, who would not give his last name, ran outside to find the small house engulfed in flames and Becker lying on the ground, about 20 feet from the door.

“I was frightened. I was afraid for Kelley,” he said.

Robert made a futile attempt to contain the fire with a garden hose and cut off Becker’s burned T-shirt while his girlfriend, Terry Allen, called for help.

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As Becker waited for paramedics to arrive to treat his severe burns, he calmly asked for a cigarette, commenting he knew it would be a long time before he would be able to smoke another one, said Robert, who rents the main house on the property at 264 E. Lewis St.

After the first two fire engines arrived at the burning home, a second alarm was quickly sounded, bringing two more trucks.

“They were immediately concerned with addressing the injuries to the victim which were considerable,” Battalion Chief Maher said. “Most of his burns were to the arms and legs, with some possible upper respiratory damage. I’ll tell you it’s a real tribute to the toughness of the human body.”

Becker’s 20-year-old studio had been remodeled just before he moved in in April, said Deborah Lockwood, who has owned the house with her husband for 13 years.

“We haven’t even finished repainting,” Lockwood said from her home in New York. “He had just called us last week and offered to finish the painting.”

Fire officials are investigating whether permits were needed to complete the renovation of the structure, which sustained $25,000 in damage, Rigg said. If permits were required and not obtained by the property owners, they could be held liable for the accident, he said.

Lockwood said permits for the structure were up to date.

Before Becker’s sister went to Torrance on Wednesday morning to meet family members who had already gathered at the burn center, she made a stop at his now-destroyed home, trying to recover whatever might be left from the fire.

She could only find his favorite picture--a now charred picture of the Holly House on Catalina Island.

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Becker-Monahan described her younger brother as someone who has a dry sense of humor and is always in a good mood.

“You don’t know when he is serious and when he’s joking,” she said. “And most of the time he’s joking.”

A longtime employee of BST Lift Systems, Becker had recently left the job at the company owned by his father, Bill Becker. He now works various construction jobs.

“He’s always trying to do something,” Robert said.

Helping relief efforts in natural disasters such as the Northridge earthquake, Becker has spent 15 years volunteering for the Red Cross, where his mother, Carol Becker, is the director of workplace education.

“He’s a really nice person, helpful,” said Irma Zamora, education specialist for the local Red Cross. “If we needed somebody around, he was a person to count on.”

Times photographer Steve Osman contributed to this report.