Donations being accepted for woman injured in blast

A fund has been established to help the injured owner of a Sandpoint home significantly damaged in a propane explosion Saturday, bank staff said Tuesday.

Kathy Ginter was burned in the Durkee Road blast that also hurt a couple and a young boy as they toured the house, a prospective rental site.

Donations for Ginter are being accepted at any regional branch of Wells Fargo bank. Contributors must specify that funds be deposited in her name, a staff member at a Wells Fargo branch in Sandpoint said.

Ginter makes her living cleaning houses and house-sitting, neighbor Anita Perry said Tuesday. Ginter’s injuries could limit her ability to work for some time, the neighbor said.

“She’s just an extremely reliable and nice person,” Perry said.

Sandpoint Assessor’s Department records show that Ginter was co-owner of the log house at 579 Durkee Road, a clerk said.

The explosion bowed the walls of the structure and blew out windows. Law enforcement officials previously said that prospective residents smelled gas in the house upon entering. The blast apparently was triggered when Ginter flipped a light switch, they said.

Ginter remained in satisfactory condition Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a hospital nursing supervisor said.

Also injured in the explosion were Cody Likkel and his wife, Jodi Greve, and their 6-year-old son, Mason. The couple and the child also remained in satisfactory condition, the hospital spokeswoman said.

Donations to help the Likkel-Greve family will be accepted at all branches of Panhandle State Bank.