Verizon contractor was ‘on site’ ahead of fatal Sun Prairie blast
MADISON - A contractor for Verizon Wireless was working in the area of an explosion that erupted after a natural gas line was punctured, killing one firefighter and injuring 11 others.
A spokesperson for Bear Communications, a telecommunications company doing work for Verizon, said a crew was working in the vicinity of the explosion in downtown Sun Prairie on Tuesday, but that the workers were evacuated before the blast occurred.
A spokesman for Verizon Wireless also said the company contracted with Bear Communications “to provide a fiber backhaul for our networks,” and that Verizon would cooperate with the investigation if requested.
Neither company, however, would confirm if it was their worker that hit the natural gas line that caused the explosion, which claimed the life of Sun Prairie Firefighter Cory Barr and leveled a tavern Barr owned and destroyed nearby buildings.
Meanwhile, the utility company that owns a natural gas line that was punctured Tuesday won’t say whether the contractor who hit the line sought to identify its location before starting work.
Amy Jahns, a spokeswoman for We Energies, said the company would not have such information and referred a reporter to the company that manages a hotline for workers or homeowners who need to dig underground and want to locate utility lines to avoid cutting or puncturing them.
A spokesman for Diggers Hotline Inc. said he could not release requests from customers, and said the company “would have no way of knowing who was involved” and that hundreds of requests to locate lines were made in Sun Prairie in just a month’s time.
A spokesman for Bear Communications did not respond to questions about whether workers tried to find the gas line before they began work.
In a statement, Sun Prairie Police Lt. Kevin Konopacki said Thursday the Madison Fire Department is performing another search of the damaged buildings and debris to find any possible victims, but Konopacki noted the police department has not received any calls about missing persons.