Homemade explosives detonated in Beaver Dam
Apartment building rocked with second explosion in three days
BEAVER DAM - Experts detonated leftover homemade explosives Wednesday afternoon in an apartment, two days after a fatal explosion there.
A small ball of fire accompanied the controlled explosion, which went out the porch and front windows of the apartment just after 1:30 p.m. on Knaup Drive. Plywood from the roof also flew into the air, as black smoke started coming from within the structure.
Monday afternoon, a man, whose identity authorities have not released, died after an initial explosion in the apartment.
Beaver Dam police found “a significant amount of highly volatile, homemade explosives,” Chief John Kreuziger said Wednesday at a news conference.
The bomb-making materials were so sensitive, authorities could not handle them or remove them from the apartment, Kreuziger said. Instead, they blew them up.
Diane Carr, who lives in an adjacent building and was at work at the time of the Monday explosion, said she was later able to briefly go in and get her dog. She had to leave two cats behind because she was only allowed one trip and couldn’t carry all three at once.
More than anything, she said, she just wants to be able to go in and give her cats food and water.
Just after 4 p.m., Kreuziger held a second news conference and announced the controlled detonation was deemed a success.
All people and pets were evacuated prior to the detonation, he said, and the body of the deceased man was removed from the apartment Tuesday evening.
Kreuziger said a large vent was cut in the roof of the apartment complex, and sandbags were strategically placed in and around the apartment to direct the expected shock wave and minimize the impact of the detonation.
Following the detonation, a fire flared in the attic area of the building, as well as in the adjacent apartments, and was extinguished by the Beaver Dam Fire Department.
Some structural damage occurred within the building, which is pending review by a structural engineering authority, Kreuziger said.
All residents, except for those in building 109, were allowed to return to their apartments Wednesday night, the Dodge County Emergency Management Office said.
An account has been opened for monetary donations to aid the residents of building 109, the office said. Donations can be made at any Horicon Bank in Dodge County and can be addressed to the Dodge County COAD / Beaver Dam Apartments.