LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- The explosion which rocked a small downtown office building last week has been blamed by fire officials on a metal stake driven into the ground during road construction which pierced a natural gas line.
Division Chief Jeff Brohmer said gas which started leaking Thursday migrated through the ground into the building housing Home Apartment Development, resulting in the blast minutes before employees arrived for work Friday. No one was injured.
Brohmer said he did not know who drove the stake into the ground or who that person's employer was.
``We're still gathering information on that stuff,'' he said.
Cliff LeCleir said Monday his La Crosse-based business moved operations back to its former location in the city from which it had moved about five years ago.
``We're considering putting up a sign (at the site where the explosion took place) that will say 'For sale, will build to suit,''' he said.
LeCleir said his business owns about 1,500 apartments in eight cities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana - including 175 in the La Crosse area.
``Each city has an office,'' LeCleir said. ``So the only problem (as far as missing records) would be the local rental records, which we have found. I found the leases. A fireman found the ledgers. And my maintenance person in La Crosse found all the keys. The only thing is our keys (to apartments) are all coded and the code book is missing.''
