THREE FORKS — Debris flew through the air Thursday afternoon after a shed explosion rattled a quiet neighborhood outside Three Forks and sent one man to the hospital.
“It definitely scared everyone in the neighborhood. Everyone could feel it,” neighbor Andrew Cavanaugh said.
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Cavanaugh lives in the small neighborhood outside Three Forks, the type of place, he said, where everybody knows everybody.
“Everybody’s very close. What you would expect from a Montana street,” Cavanaugh said.
That tight-knit community was rattled Thursday afternoon when Cavanaugh heard the explosion.
“Initially, when I heard the blast, I had just gotten out of the shower. I thought we might have been under attack. I hadn’t heard anything like that since I left Iraq in 2007,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh, a retired Marine, ran outside to check on his four children and wife.
“There was shrapnel falling all around here from the sky. You’ve got parts of the walls up on the hill. A ton of wood went over on my side. Broke the windows on our camper,” Cavanaugh showed me.
Debris was scattered throughout the neighborhood, nearby windows were shattered, and his neighbor’s shed was in flames.
“I didn’t have time to put my shoes on or my clothes. So I ran over here barefoot. Once I got past the corner of the house, as you see, the shed’s completely gone,” Cavanaugh said.
A Google image of the property shows how large the shed was before the explosion.
After the blast, the structure was gone.
“Randy was standing just beyond the table saw there. Flames all around him,” Cavanaugh said.
Randy collapsed, but Cavanaugh didn’t hesitate. Construction workers from Cavanaugh’s company were across the street.
“I yelled over at them to come over. I yelled at my wife to call 911. When they got over here, we went in and pulled him out of there,” Cavanaugh said.
Broadwater County sheriff’s deputies and the Three Forks Fire Department quickly responded to the scene. Randy was taken to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital for treatment of burns and a head injury.
“It’s a miracle he’s alive. I can’t explain how he’s here. And every single thing inside of his shed, the entire shed is blown to smithereens,” Cavanaugh said.
According to a Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office post, the explosion may have been due to a propane-fueled space heater. Randy’s home is considered a total loss, along with one vehicle.
Cavanaugh said he knows Randy is strong.
“He’s also a veteran. A very strong-willed old man. He does everything himself,” Cavanaugh said.
But Cavanaugh said Randy might need some help as he recovers.
“It’s a long road for him, so I hope that the greater community, Three Forks, Broadwater County, Gallatin County, comes together to help him out a little bit,” Cavanaugh said.
Randy’s stepdaughter drove from Boise, Idaho, after hearing about the explosion. She said Randy is in stable condition at a Billings hospital.
A GoFundMe could be in the works to help Randy.
