Firefighter killed in gas explosion

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — A massive natural gas explosion killed a firefighter and leveled portions of a city block in a southern Wisconsin community, including a bar the firefighter owned, authorities said Wednesday.

The blast in downtown Sun Prairie on Tuesday evening also injured at least a dozen people and left residents of the Madison suburb wondering how they’ll put their downtown back together.

“It’s just hard to look at the pictures [of the explosion and ruined downtown] and see what our city looks like now,” resident Erin Updike said.

The blast happened after police got a call at 6:30 p.m. that construction workers working on a downtown street had punctured a WE Energies natural gas line. Police and firefighters arrived to investigate and were evacuating the area when the gas exploded shortly after 7 p.m.