A 65-year-old remains hospitalized with severe burns over most of his body after his mobile home exploded at a southwest trailer park on Stine Road.

Battalion Chief Danny Brown with Bakersfield Fire says investigators are going on the theory that the man failed to re-ignite a pilot light after installing a new water heater prior to Thursday’s blast.

“He went back into the kitchen at around 1 a.m. and lit the oven, and that’s when the explosion happened,” he said.

The explosion displaced five people and caused $300,000 damage to 13 homes and five vehicles.

– Anthony Pollreisz