Martha Stewart's beloved five-month-old chow pup, Genghis Khan, was among 17 pooches killed Friday in a propane tank explosion that left one person critically injured.

Apparently a spark or jolt of static electricity ignited the propane as a deliveryman was filling the tank, sending a ball of flame 75 feet in the air and through the pens at Pazzazz Pet Boarding, a kennel in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains that breeds and trains show dogs.

The deliveryman, Timothy Kleinhagen, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Despite suffering extensive burns, he managed to toss a terrier over a fence to safety, per the Allentown Morning Call newspaper. In all, only a half-dozen dogs were saved.

"I am deeply saddened by this story. My heart goes out to [Pazzazz owner] Karen Tracy and I am hoping for a speedy recovery for those (both pets and humans) injured in this terrible event," Stewart wrote on her blog alongside a pictorial tribute to her late pet.

Genghis Khan, a chow who frequently appeared in Stewart's magazine and on her TV show, was the grandson of the homemaking maven's beloved Paw Paw, who went to the great kennel in the sky last April. Stewart adopted Genghis last fall to join her two French bulldogs, Francesca and Sharkey.

The pup, the only boy in his litter, is survived by his mother, Sahara, and two sisters.

By Anna Fugazzi