Gas Stove Explodes, Causing Minor Burns to Child in Point Pleasant Borough

An 11-year-old child suffered minor facial burns after a metal canister of butane he put in a gas oven exploded, said Point Pleasant Borough Police Capt. Richard Larsen.

A resident at a home on East Drive called police at 7:07 p.m. Saturday to report that his kitchen gas stove had exploded, Larsen said.

Police Officer James Kavanagh responded to the scene where the homeowner told him he had turned on the oven to preheat it and left the house briefly while his wife and two children stayed home, Larsen said.

His 11-year-old son was downstairs and his older child was upstairs with his wife, Larsen said.

The father returned after about 10 minutes, opened the front door and saw that the oven was exploding.

"He saw a large flame emanate from the oven and ignite a roll of paper towels," Larsen said.

He threw the paper towels in the sink and extinguished the flames with water.

The cause of the blaze was that the 11-year-old had put a metal canister of butane in the oven, Larsen said.

The First Aid Squad treated the boy at the scene and then took him to Brick Hospital where he was treated and released, Larsen said.

In addition to the oven damage, two front windows of the house blew out, the blinds were ruined and a light fixture in the kitchen was damaged.

The incident is still under investigation by Kavanagh, Detective Joseph Hynes and the Ocean County Fire Marshal's office.