SMOKER MAY HAVE CAUSED EXPLOSION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

ENCINO - Fire officials said Saturday that an explosion at a three-story apartment building the day before may have started after a resident who had been fixing his gas stove lit a cigarette in his apartment.

But the subsequent fire that followed was not typical of a natural gas explosion, so officials are continuing to investigate, said Los Angeles City Fire Department Capt. Joe Castro.

Resident Dennis Cohen, 47, who suffered second- and third-degree burns, told fire officials that he had been fixing his gas stove Friday morning before the explosion at the Park Encino Apartments, Castro said.

``He had disconnected the flexible tubing,'' Castro said. ``He went into the bathroom, came back into the room and lit a match for a cigarette.''

Castro explained that the fire that followed the explosion was unusually large.

``In my 24 years on the job, we've had a lot of natural gas explosions and they usually don't have a subsequent fire that's that large,'' Castro said. ``Usually, when the explosion takes place, it uses up all the fuel, which is the natural gas, or the force of the explosion is such that it kind of extinguishes the fire.

``That's the only piece of evidence that doesn't support a natural gas explosion,'' Castro said. ``As we begin to delayer this pile of debris, it's possible we'll uncover something that will explain why there was such a big fire.''

Cohen remained in critical but stable condition at Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital on Saturday. Castro said Cohen had second- and third-degree burns over more than 50 percent of his body, but no respiratory burns, which is consistent with a natural gas explosion.

Two other people had been treated for trauma on Friday, but a fire official said it was miraculous there were no fatalities.

Firefighters worked Saturday to remove the exterior walls of the building that was the center of the explosion, Castro said. They will use a special arson dog, which can detect 60 different types of accelerants, to sniff each layer, authorities said.

The 137-unit apartment complex on Newcastle Avenue, just north of Ventura Boulevard, had been completely evacuated Friday after the blast, which happened shortly after 11 a.m., and remained closed to residents - except to retrieve belongings under escort - on Saturday.

Of the many residents made homeless, about 10 of them spent the night at the Red Cross Emergency Shelter at Portolo Middle School, said Jerome Thierry, public information officer for the Red Cross. Both nurses and mental health workers were on hand to help the residents deal with the shock and aftermath.

Shahnaz Khalilian, 57, sat cross-legged on a green Red Cross cot early Saturday morning, her legs covered by a blanket. With tears in her eyes, she told how she had just returned from shopping Friday morning when a neighbor stopped her from going inside to her unit, 124.

``He said, 'I'm sorry, 124 is gone,''' she said.

Her son, Peyman Parsa, who lives with her, was at work at the time of the explosion. Their apartment was one of the ones that was completely consumed by the explosion and blaze.

Although several residents said they smelled gas in days prior to the explosion, Peter G. Hidalgo, a spokesman for Sempra Energy, said the Gas Co. had no record of any resident complaining recently. The last recorded Gas Co. visit to the complex was in November 2001.

Hidalgo said if people are concerned about a gas appliance malfunctioning, they should call the Gas Co. toll-free at [phone] and a service representative would inspect and repair it for free. If someone smells gas, they should leave the building immediately and report it, he said.

At least 10 units were destroyed when the explosion and fire caused the three-story structure to collapse, but as many as 50 units sustained severe damage and will have to be evaluated for structural safety before residents will be allowed back in, which may take several days, Castro said.

A cloud of smoke drifted from the smoldering remains of the exploded section. The swimming pool's water was an oily black, with lengths of wood and other debris floating in it. Shards of glass littered the sidewalks around it.

Inside the units, sliding glass doors were blown off their tracks, their metal frames twisted.

Vertical blinds hung askew, some of them torn, and in one apartment, a fluorescent light fixture had been completely knocked out of the ceiling. Shards of glass were embedded in walls and in couches, firefighters said.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A worker makes his way through the wreckage of an apartment unit in the 5000 block of Newcastle Avenue in Encino that was damaged by an explosion and fire Friday morning. No one was killed, and only one person was seriously wounded.

(2) A worker surveys the damage to a 3-story apartment complex in Encino that was seriously damaged by an explosion Friday.

(3) Fire officials check out an apartment unit located approximately 100 feet away from a huge explosion in another unit.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News

(4) Shahnaz Khalilian, left, and Ali Hamidi wait in a Red Cross shelter set up after an explosion at a 137-unit apartment complex in Encino forced the evacuation of all residents.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer