Overnight fire

GARDENDALE  Ida Lee and her caregiver stood amongst the rubble of a recreational vehicle Thursday morning, about 10 hours after it exploded, sending her grandson and another man to a Lubbock hospital with serious burns.

"We just had to come down and look things over," Lee, 92, said.

Lee's grandson, 50-year-old Steve Barker, was listed in critical condition Thursday at University Medical Center in Lubbock. About 47 percent of his body was burned - including his face, arms, legs and back, sheriff's reports said.

Barker's roommate, 48-year-old Chris Corralez, was listed in stable condition at the same hospital. Between 25 and 27 percent of his body was burned, including his hands, thigh and face, sheriff's reports said.

Lee, who was surveying the scene of the midnight explosion and following fire, said her grandson had recently purchased the RV and Wednesday night was his first night to sleep in it.

Lee lives about two blocks from her grandson's residence, and she said she heard what she described as "a boom" about midnight Thursday.

She said it's possible Barker and Corralez didn't properly hook up the RV, and it caused some kind of leak.

That's something investigators hadn't yet determined Thursday, though. The Ector County Sheriff's Office, the Gardendale Volunteer Fire Department and the Odessa Fire Department were called about midnight to the RV at 17118 Zinnia Street. According to sheriff's reports, the cause of the explosion and resulting fire is still under investigation. 

That hasn't stopped others from speculating as to the cause, though.

Cindy Ballew, who lives a little less than a block from Barker's residence, said she showed up at the scene about 12:10 a.m. Thursday and saw the recreational vehicle ablaze. Another nearby resident, T.O. Thomasson, said he showed up at the scene shortly after midnight and saw the RV on fire, too.

"I thought the whole thing had burned," he said. "I suspect a propane leak in there set it off."

Meanwhile, Lee's caregiver, Judy Burchell, who's also friends with Barker, said the 50-year-old man was only planning to stay at the site on Zinnia Street temporarily.

"They were going to Ruidoso - that's why he bought that," she said.