Three people are recovering in an Omaha Hospital from burns and other injuries after Tuesday’s natural gas explosion in the southwest Iowa town of Griswold. Twenty-three-year-old Brad Amos and his grandfather, 69-year-old James Gordon Amos, both of Griswold, and 52-year-old Jim Rogers of Wiota are facing a long road of treatment from severe burns at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Hospital officials say Brad Amos is in critical condition, while James Amos and Jim Rogers are in serious condition. A fourth victim, 53-year-old Scott Drake of Walnut, suffered minor injuries and was treated at the Cass County Hospital in Atlantic and released. Investigators say Brad Amos was filling a 20-gallon propane tank for a gas grill when the explosion happened.
The explosion blew a hole in the rear of the Pelgrow building in Griswold and witnesses say the flames were more than 30-feet in the air. All of the injured are Pelgrow employees. Local and state officials are still trying to determine what caused the spark that ignited that blast.