A building in Wyoming, Minn., used to house a welding shop for a boat-building business was destroyed by fire Saturday.
No one was hurt in the fire, which broke out at the Premier Marine complex in Chisago County at 11:25 a.m., said Wyoming Police Chief Paul Hoppe. The business was closed at the time.
Hoppe said the fire hit one of the seven buildings in the complex, where the company's pontoon boats are built. The fire was brought under control in an hour. More than two dozen rigs from seven jurisdictions were dispatched to the fire.
The cause has yet to be determined.
"A couple of witnesses saw some flames coming out of one side of the building," Hoppe said. "Then when they went to investigate, there was a series of explosions inside the building."
He said acetylene, oxygen, propane and "other volatile chemicals" stored in the building probably ignited and caused those explosions. There have been two or three fires in the Premier Marine complex over the past five years, Hoppe said.
NORMAN DRAPER
