ST. CLOUD, MINN (WJON) – Monday is the 25th anniversary of a massive gas explosion in downtown St. Cloud.
Four people died and 11 others were hurt in the blast on December 11th, 1998. Six businesses were destroyed.
Book ‘Ems owner Dan Wedin was inside his bar with his beer distributor and several customers at the time. His bar was among those destroyed in the explosion. He says an NSP worker came in checking gas levels inside the building about 30 seconds before the explosion, not enough time for Wedin to evacuate and he was buried in the rubble.
He heard a cop who grabbed him by his arm, pulled him out, and told Wedin to keep running from the blast sight because there was fear of another explosion.
The explosion which was caused by the worker puncturing an underground gas pipeline, caused about $400,000 in damage.
