Clay County family loses home, suffers injuries in explosion

Three people went to the hospital with serious injuries after a home explosion in Clay County.

It happened Sunday around 11:30 p.m. at a home on Roy Cox Road in the Burning Springs community.

Nancy Collins Murrell, 42, and her children, Koby Mickel, 16, and Sha-lynn Mickel, 12, were inside the house when it blew up, family members said.

All three were flown to UK Hospital with bad burns and broken bones.

"It just hurts me that it happened to them," said Oakley Cox, a neighbor who helped drag them to safety after the explosion. "The whole holler felt like a plane crashed in front of everyone's house."

The explosion collapsed walls, charred furniture, and ruined clothes and other possessions. It even shattered the windows off a camper in the yard.

Two dogs survived, but another dog died in the explosion, neighbors said.

As of Monday night, firefighters were still trying to figure out what caused the explosion, though the family suspects natural gas played a role.

"We're looking for the gas meters, the propane tanks, any type of stove, any type of fuels around the structure, inside or outside," said Shane Sturgill, chief of the Burning Springs Fire Dept.

An official from the state fire marshal's office was on the scene Monday, hoping to figure out why one family is now without a home.

Family members of the three victims said they face a long road to recovery but are expected to be okay.