Investigators rule that refilling propane cylinders fueled explosion that killed barista

EVERETT – Investigators determined the fire that killed a coffee stand owner in Everett last month started because she was refilling small propane cylinders from a 20-pound tank in order to fuel her portable heater.

Courtney Campbell, a 26-year-old mother of two, died a few days after the Jan. 7 fire at the Sinners and Saints Coffee Co. stand on Everett Mall Way.

A witness told fire investigators that he’d warned Campbell just before the explosion that the stand smelled like propane and she needed to get out.

Seconds after the explosion, Campbell crawled out through a window, but she died later at Harborview Medical Center.