Blast man survives by seat of his pants

Eleven hours after narrowly cheating death, Brian Earles was back in his local pub celebrating his good fortune with a cold beer and a cigarette.
The 66-year-old amazed fire officers by walking away from a massive gas-heater explosion on Tuesday morning unharmed.
The blast blew out a ranchslider, ripped a wall off its foundations and left his Jack St, Otangarei, unit looking like a bomb site.
Yesterday, the Whangarei grandfather was reflecting on his good luck. His family was calling him the luckiest man in New Zealand.
"I'm still trying to get over the fact I'm alive," Mr Earles said. "I think some of those angels must have been out there the other day."
He woke early on Tuesday morning and put the jug on and decided to put his LPG heater on.
When it would not start he disconnected and then reconnected the gas bottle. He then pressed the ignite button and the room exploded. Mr Earles, who is deaf, felt the explosion blast past his legs and the flash fire that accompanied it singed his eyebrows, his eye lashes and melted his nylon pants.
"I managed to walk outside through the glass. I had a few chairs and a bench and they were out on the front lawn," he said.
"I looked back and was quite surprised to see the kitchen sink still there and my cup of coffee were still sitting there. One fireman asked if I was all right (and said) `I thought I was going find a dead man in there'... not likely with this fella."
He was then taken to hospital by ambulance but was discharged later that morning after having an apple juice, a coffee and some oxygen. His only injury - a minor bruise on his left wrist.
By 5.30pm, Mr Earles, who is partial to a cold beer, was at the Kensington Tavern enjoying a drink and waiting for his story to be played on the Tv news. He missed the news clip because the Tv was tuned into the Trackside racing channel instead.
His son, Kepa Earles, 33, was amazed his father had come away unscathed and believed there had been some divine intervention.
"When I rang my older brother, who has lived in Papua New Guinea for years, I said, `You're not going to believe this but just close your eyes and focus on what I'm saying'.
"He was blown away. I'm just amazed at the extent of the damage and the injuries he sustained. He had nylon pants on which melted but he didn't get any blisters on his legs. All he got was a little burn on his arm."
Mr Earles is staying with his son until his own home is fixed. He has sworn off using gas heaters and is now considering the merits of column heater.