EMBDEN — The cause of an explosion that injured a woman and destroyed her two-story log home earlier this month remains under investigation, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.
“The house had gas appliances and those are being examined in an effort to determine if one of them caused the explosion,” Shannon Moss, the department’s spokesperson, wrote Monday in an email.
Moss said insurance companies and engineers are involved in the investigation and the Office of State Fire Marshal does not expect to have an answer soon.
Moss identified the woman who was injured as Tamara McLean, 45. Social media messages sent to McLean for comment Monday were not returned.
The extent of McLean’s injuries were not known Monday. Moss said she did not have McLean’s official status, other than she is recovering.
Several emergency workers from Somerset and Franklin counties responded Oct. 15 to the explosion at 199 Bert Berry Road. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is leading the investigation, according to Moss.
After the blast, McLean drove herself about 4 miles to the Solon Fire Station because she did not have cellphone service on Bert Berry Road, according to Chief Duayne Rollins of the Solon Fire Department.
No one was at the station when McLean arrived, but she had cellphone service so she called for help, Rollins said.
McLean was taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan, and then by a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Morning Sentinel staff writer Kaitlyn Budion contributed to this report.
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