Northeast Colorado rancher still recovering from tree-pile explosion 3 years ago - Grateful to be alive
- Media Logic Radio
- Feb 5
- 2 min read
Every day on Ryan Keen’s cattle ranch on Colorado’s eastern plains means long hours, heavy lifting, and relentless wind.
“We also raise a little bit of wheat — if it ever rains,” Keen joked recently.
But nearly three years ago, a routine chore on Father’s Day turned into a fight for his life.
“I was just going to take it easy for once,” Keen said. “Mow, burn trees, and cook a prime rib.” Instead, when he lit a tree pile, there was a sudden explosion.
Inside the house, his wife Tandi felt it. “It shook the house,” she said. “And then, the screams.”
Keen remembers being thrown to the ground — and being on fire. Badly burned, he ran more than 100 yards to his home and climbed into a cold shower.
“Skin was just falling off my arms,” he said. With the nearest hospital 15 miles away, their teenage son drove while Tandi held him in the back seat, trying to keep him conscious.
Doctors in Sterling rushed to help, but burns to Keen’s throat and lungs made the situation critical.
“She said I had about ten minutes to live unless she could get a tube in my throat,” Keen recalled.
He was airlifted to HCA HealthOne Swedish in Englewood, where he spent 10 days on life support. Doctors performed multiple surgeries, including skin grafts and reconstructive work.
Today, Keen is back on his ranch, with few visible scars.
“I’m just grateful to be alive,” he said. “Every day.”
The ground where the explosion happened is still blackened — a reminder of how close he came to losing everything.
*Kelly Werthman originally did this story for CBS-4 Colorado News from February 4, 2026. Go to cbsnews.com
