Lake Wilson, Minnesota Virtually Destroyed By Explosion

Local Media | Minneapolis News

[I_love_weather]

Trying to find more information...

Photographs look like a tornado hit the town. Many businesses and homes totally destroyed.

Large explosion near the fire department.

Believe to be propane explosion.

Will search for links...

Did not see this posted...sorry if it has been.

[ThePythonicCow]

... in case one blows up ??

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

When I first saw your headline, I thought that it said Luke Wilson virtually destroyed by an explosion.

[okie01]

And nobody was injured?

Where the hell was everybody? Out at the county line, drinking beer and doing the schottische?

[ThePythonicCow]

info appears pretty exaggerated based on further reports.....almost every single building appears to be doing just fine.

What further reports? The buildings sure don't look fine in the pictures above.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

For a minute I thought all of MN was destroyed by the explosion...

[rwfromkansas]

Well, if Diddle E. Squat's post was right, only a couple buildings were destroyed, not the entire town virtually destroyed.

It still is a disaster of course.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Further evidence that 'Hispanic' is a political rather than ethnic description.

[fish hawk]

wow, how could this be that bad and no one hurt?

[I_love_weather]

Ummm every building is doing fine?

What are you watching...I am watching the news here in Minneapolis and the town is severaly damaged.

Guess you missed the photos...

THey showed a shot from the air...there is extensive damage throughout the town.

Sorry but you are wrong.

[I_love_weather]

Lake Wilson Explosion
It looks like a tornado came through in the middle of January.

An explosion rocked the town of Lake Wilson at 11:15pm. The blast could be felt 30 miles away in Worthington. Now the town is left with a huge clean-up effort and a lot of questions.

Investigators are still on the scene Tuesday tonight, from the Murray County sheriff's department to the department of homeland security.

Earlier in the day reports indicated propane could be to blame for the explosion.

The darkness hid some of the damage, but it couldn't disguise the sound.

Lake Wilson fire chief Leroy Reese says, "There was a heck of a bang."

And this morning, Lake Wilson woke up to a town torn apart.

Lake Wilson resident Kevin Barry says, "I hit the ceiling. I've never went through that before. I couldn't tell you, compare it to anything."

For two and a half blocks, the story is the same.

"It's chaos."

The explosion crushed cars. It pushed in garage doors. It destroyed homes.

Reese says, "As you can see we don't have anything left in our building."

Their building used to be a new fire hall. Now, it's the starting point as investigators search for a cause.

Reese says, "You can see pretty much where the blast came from. We're just finding things to link to the blast so we get a reenactment of it."

Every business on Lake Wilson's Main Street has something to clean up. Look inside the bank and you realize why the town's only insurance agent has had a busy day. He worries that as bad as this looks, the structural damage could go even deeper.

Insurance agent Chuck Vasgaard says, "You can't tell from the outside what you've got. It'll take more knowledgable people than myself to figure out what buildings are salvagable and what we can and can't do."

But while the explosion struck the town, it spared the people. Somehow, no one was seriously hurt. Now, they'll try to look past the destruction, and find the faith to rebuild their town.

Vasgaard says, "This damage is not going to disappear. It'll be here a few days, a week from now. You want to come and look, come later. Give us a chance to get things secured. When we need help, we'll let people know."

This isn't the first time this town has had to rebuild. In 1992 a tornado struck Lake Wilson. Tonight, people are again cleaning up. Many are still staying with friends after evacuating their homes. Tomorrow at 2pm the town will hold a meeting in the Schwan's Call Center gym.

[I_love_weather]

KDLT-TV
Updated: 8:41 p.m. ET Jan. 13, 2004Jan. 13 - Their town is covered in debris after a fire building exploded last night at around 11:30.

[I_love_weather]

KLDT
"The town looks like a war zone"

[I_love_weather]

I guess the mods moved this...

I can't even find it anymore on the main page.

Guess the town wasn't big enough :)

Funny I bet if a huge portion of New York was destroyed the mods might think that was real news.

They still are not sure what caused this explosion.

The news is saying tonight they are still searching for answers.

They have yet to prove whether it was or was not propane.

The investigation continues.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Additional notation: In 2004 half the town was destroyed when a propane tank was kicked over by a cow owned by one Mrs. O'Leery. The vapors from the now-valveless tank were soon ignited when a pump motor kicked on, explosively igniting the vapors ...

Mad cow?

[Morgan's Raider]

Your headline is incomplete - should read:

Lake Wilson, Minnesota Virtually Destroyed By Explosion -- Bush at Fault

[Colorado Doug]

propane tank was kicked over by a cow owned by one Mrs. O'Leery

Clearly another mad cow. . .

[Johnny Gage]

Wow. Both firehalls and trucks destroyed. Bummer.

To bad I'm not the chief here in suburban Mpls., I'd send a truck and crew down there and help out to do standby shifts.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

"blowed up good, blowed up real good"

[_Jim]

a town with 170 people get to have TWO fire stations

LOTSA volunteer fireman. The firehouse makes a wonderful 'lodge'.