2 injured at Palm Valley home after backyard fire pit explodes

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St. Johns County Fire Rescue responded to a possible gas explosion at a residence on Roscoe Boulevard on Jan. 2. The explosion was caused by a recently installed fire pit, causing two individuals to be injured.

Father and daughter, Chloe Faver, 18, and William Faver, 58, were sitting by their backyard fire pit when it suddenly exploded. According to a St. Johns County police report, William Faver stated that he had recently hired a gas company to move the propane fire pit from one part of the backyard to another. He said the final inspection of the fire pit occurred two days before the explosion.

Faver also told police that when he lit the fire pit, he had made sure that he did not smell any propane gas leaking. Approximately 20 minutes after lighting it the explosion occurred, which Faver described as “instantaneous and violent.”

Faver and his daughter sustained non-life threating injuries, with Faver requiring stitches to his ear and his daughter sustaining minor cuts to her legs after being “thrown 8 to 10 feet in the air,” according to the report. Both photographs and video surveillance footage were submitted into evidence.