GRAY – A propane gas leak at Cartco Small Trailer Supply and Repair on Route 100 resulted in a raging fire and multiple explosions that leveled the workshop Monday morning.

Owner Jerry Carter, 55, escaped without injury.

Deputy Fire Chief Galen Morrison said Carter was in his metal fabrication shop, which is about 100 feet from his home, when he discovered a propane leak and alerted the Fire Department on his cell phone at 11:08 a.m.

Within three or four minutes of that call, the first explosion occurred, followed by as many as a dozen or more at the business at 315 Portland Road.

It is not known what sparked the blast, Morrison said.

Carter was unavailable for comment Monday night, his wife, Linda, said.

“We’re just exhausted,” she said.

Carter has owned the business for more than 20 years, she added.

Morrison said Carter was not hurt, “just very upset.”

State highway worker Tom Stackhouse of Lisbon Falls said Monday night that he was out patching Route 100 when he passed the shop at 11:15 a.m. and saw Jerry Carter running toward him to flag him down.

“He’s waving his arms, and I pull over, and he lets me know his place has already exploded,” he said.

“Jerry was stunned. You could tell he was really hurting. He was really shaken up. He wasn’t quite coherent. He said, ‘I just can’t believe how fast that happened,'” Stackhouse said.

“He actually almost went back (into the garage). Thank God he didn’t or he would have been dead.”

The two men tried to block traffic in both directions as explosions continued, the second one blowing Stackhouse about 5 feet away and to the ground as he stood about 50 feet from the shop.

He said he got to his feet and continued to try to get motorists to stop so no one else would be injured by the continuing blasts.

“They (drivers) wanted to see the fire. They just wanted to watch it burn,” he said.

“There were like 15 explosions in all,” he said, adding the building was used for welding and also contained chemicals.

“All that started blowing. The garage in the middle, by then, just caved in. It looked like a bomb going off in the middle of it.

“I know people could hear it from miles away,” said Stackhouse, who was checked at a hospital for knee and back pain, and released.

Stackhouse praised firefighters for their quick response.

“The Fire Department showed up in an incredible amount of time,” and had to wait about 10 minutes until the explosions ceased before they could get close enough to spray foam to extinguish flames.

“Everyone’s first reaction was, ‘Is (Jerry) OK?’ He’s well respected” as a fabricator. “He’s well liked. He’s built trailers for the state,” Stackhouse said.

“We were just lucky that we were going by and could stop traffic,” Stackhouse said of the circumstances.

The deputy chief said the 1-story shop, which measured about 30 by 60 feet, was insured.

He said when firefighters arrived the building had already collapsed.

“We also had additional propane cylinders in the building and had live power lines in the area” so it was a “defensive attack for the welfare of our own people.”

Fire departments from New Gloucester, Cumberland and Raymond responded to the scene, bringing the firefighting force to about 20, Morrison said.

“We used foam because we had petroleum products inside. It allows us to put less water” and helps extinguish flames quicker, he said.

The building and contents were destroyed, along with a newer model pickup truck parked outside, he said.

He had no estimate of loss.

The house was not damaged, he added.

Route 100 was closed for more than two hours while fire and utility crews worked.