Explosion Blows Roof off Hermantown, MN, Building, Killing Two
Duluth News Tribune, Minn.
(TNS)
Feb. 1—HERMANTOWN — Two people are dead and eight individuals remain displaced following an explosion at 5064 Jennifer Circle on Saturday evening.
Hermantown Police Chief Jim Crace said the blast, which occurred at 6:21 p.m., could be heard from as far away as 12 miles.
Two people were found deceased on the scene: Gayle Nelsen, age 89, and Joan Wisneski, 88. No other injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
Crace characterized the explosion in the Green Acres housing development as powerful, saying: "It basically blew the top right off of a six-plex building."
Jim Delmore, who lives about 100 feet away from the site of the explosion, described the sound as "sort of a sonic boom" that shook his townhome.
Hermantown Police arrived just three minutes after the event, and 40 firefighters from multiple agencies were working the scene within 12 minutes of the explosion, according to Crace. Hermantown crews were joined by firefighters from Duluth, Proctor, the 148th Air National Guard, and Canosia and Fredenberg townships.
"We couldn't do what was done last night on our own," Crace said.
Additional staff from throughout the region also turned out to assist, including members of the Duluth Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Proctor Police, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the St. Louis County Search & Rescue Team, as well as Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officers.
"These folks are heroes," Crace said. "We had cops rushing into a newly exploded building, trying to find and evacuate folks, not knowing if there were going to be secondary explosions. They put their lives on the line to try to save people."
Crace said a civilian on the scene also deserves recognition for helping extricate people from the rubble. Although he did not know the name of that individual, Crace said he wished to acknowledge this person's display of selfless bravery.
The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, but Crace said the state fire marshal continues to investigate the incident.
Crace likened the scene Saturday to "complete chaos."
"One of the hardest things last night was trying to account for everybody," he said. "Just accounting for all the residents was a major chore for us."
The evening was filled with phone calls, as authorities attempted "to connect the dots" and determine who might still be in the building's wreckage.
Crace said authorities had narrowed the likely missing to the two people eventually found in the debris, but he said it was not cool enough to begin picking through the scene until about 10 p.m. The first body was recovered around midnight and the second around 4:30 a.m.
Several residents of adjacent buildings also needed help, as the blast shattered dozens of windows in neighboring residences. Gas and electrical service to neighbors in the direct vicinity remained cut for about 3 1/2 hours.
Amid the tragedy, Crace did report a few tears of joy, recalling how one of his officers recovered a missing dog that had fled the blast scene.
But Crace said the human loss of Saturday's events remains undeniable. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the victims."
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