Man charged over Vic flat explosion

A 40-year-old man is facing more than a dozen charges over a gas bottle explosion that seriously injured three police in Melbourne.

Victoria Police Sergeant Tony Scully, First Constable Emma Quick and Constable Varli Blake are still recovering from the blast, which ripped through a Middle Park flat in January.

The officers, along with several firefighters, had entered the flat on reports a man was threatening self-harm.

A firefighter who was at the scene later recalled how the bottle had been emptied, filling the room with gas before something triggered the explosion.

Detectives arrested a man in Sale, about 200km east of Melbourne, on Thursday morning.

A police spokeswoman said the man has been charged with six counts of reckless conduct endangering life, six counts of reckless conduct endangering serious injury, four counts of recklessly causing serious injury and one count of recklessly causing injury.

He's been bailed to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 1.