Stan Turner, 86, a Korean War vet, died in a Santa Rosa house fire

Stan Turner, whose body was found Wednesday in the kitchen of his Santa Rosa home following an explosion-charged garage blaze, was a family man and a combat-wounded Marine Corps veteran whose leadership in service to fellow vets included co-founding the annual “Avenue of the Flags” Memorial Day tribute.

Though Sonoma County coroner’s officials have confirmed the 86-year-old Turner’s body was recovered from the charred house near Slater Middle School and Howarth Park, it’s too early to know the cause of the retired telephone executive’s death.

It is possible that Turner, who walked with difficulty but only a week ago appeared at a social gathering of the American Legion post he once commanded, was overcome by smoke from the roaring fire that investigators suspect may have started in an electrical panel in the garage.

Regardless of what caused the two-alarm fire at about 11:40 a.m. Wednesday at the Nebraska Drive house Turner shared with his wife, Bea, blasts were heard as at least four gallon-size cans of what Santa Rosa firefighters believe was campsite white gas exploded.

“There was a camp stove that was found in the immediate area of the gas containers,” said Scott Moon, fire marshal and division chief of the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

Further exacerbating the danger as more than 30 firefighters attacked the blaze were a downed power line and the bursting of ammunition that Turner kept in boxes on the garage floor.

“There were quite a few,” Moon said. “I would say he had about 10, if not a few more.”

Some of the bullet and shotgun shells were exploded by the extreme heat. Though no firefighters or neighbors were struck by bullets, shotgun pellets or casings, firefighters did find casings or fragments of them on the street, on a fire truck and on a neighbor’s boat.

Firefighters found no firearms.

Bea Turner, 88, long a champion of the auxiliary of American Legion Theodore Roosevelt Post 21, remained hospitalized Thursday. She managed to escape from the house through a back door.

Moon said the investigation into the fire’s cause is focused on the vicinity of the electrical panel in the garage.

“There was significant damage to that area,” he said. “And we noticed a number of tripped breakers.”

Moon said fire and smoke spread into the rest of the house through the attic. The current estimate of the damage is $200,000 to $250,000.

Word that Stan Turner is dead, Bea Turner is in a hospital and their home of about 60 years is largely in ruins stunned their three children and many friends within Sonoma County’s military veteran community.

“He was one of the rocks when I joined,” said 20-year American Legion Post 21 member Terry Thurman, an Air Force veteran who serves as the post’s finance officer and manages the clubroom at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building.

Thurman said Turner, who served with the Marines in Korea, was an entirely reliable, exacting and generous member of the local veteran culture’s old guard.

“He was always good for advice and leading us on what to do,” she said.

Thurman added, “Even as his health was declining a little bit, he was as active as he could be. He was there was just last week for our potluck and bingo night.”

As an American Legion officer, Thurman was grateful for all the help and counsel Turner gave her. She especially appreciated his having trained her as one the leaders of Avenue of the Flags, a ceremony that each Memorial Day displays at Santa Rosa Memorial Park the casket flags of 1,000 service members.

Turner was key among the Theodore Post leaders who worked with funeral directors Bill Grafe and the late Al Andrews to create an Avenue of the Flags in Santa Rosa in 1972.

“He was my right-hand man,” Grafe said.

In addition to his decades of work for the Legion, Turner was a life member and stalwart of the Marine Corps League’s Detachment 686, and of the Forty & Eight invitational honor organization.

“He was always looking out for the best interests of our veterans,” said Tim Maloney, a chaplain and Army vet also well known in the county’s community of military vets. “As long as Stan was physically able, he was there.”

Thurman said Turner did all he did with and for other veterans despite the shrapnel he carried in his legs since he was wounded in Korea.

“I think that was pretty painful,” she said.

As Santa Rosa fire investigators continue to seek the cause of Wednesday’s fire, Fire Marshal Moon urged families to ensure there are working smoke alarms in their homes and to devise specific plans for evacuating in the event of a fire or other serious emergency and for meeting up afterward.

Moon said it’s not known whether an alarm alerted Stan and Bea Turner to the fire.

The tragedy on Nebraska Drive “really impresses the importance of making sure your home is set for fire safety,” he said.

Chris Smith is at ?521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CJSPD.