Firefighter killed in natural gas explosion, fire near Madison
A massive SUN PRAIRIE, WIS. — 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 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 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. The blast ignited four-story high flames that burned long into the night and belched a smoke plume visible for miles.
Sun Prairie Fire Department Capt. Cory Barr was killed in the blast, said Mahlon Mitchell, president of the state firefighters union. Barr had been with the department for at least 10 years. He also worked as a real estate agent and owned the Barr House, a tavern that was destroyed in the explosion.
“The Sun Prairie Fire Department is strong. We will keep on building from this. We are hurt, but we will come back,” Fire Chief Christopher Garrison said.
Five other firefighters, a police officer and at least six civilians were hurt, according to Sun Prairie police Lt. Kevin Konopacki. One of the firefighters was critically injured and remained hospitalized Wednesday, Konopacki said. Authorities did not provide details on the civilians who were injured, including where they were in relation to the blast.
At least five buildings were damaged, including the Barr House, Glass Nickel Pizza and a steak restaurant, according to a news release on the city’s website.
“It looked like flames shooting out of heaven and just debris going everywhere,” said Sun Prairie resident Benjamin Berry.
Authorities and WE Energies did not release the name of the company that was doing the construction work.
Sun Prairie, a city of about 30,000 people, is less than 15 miles from the state Capitol in Madison. Its biggest claims to fame are Jimmy the Groundhog, a renowned rodent that predicts how long winter will last on Groundhog Day, and dirt races involving midget cars, a sort of cross between ATVs and dune buggies.