Two women are dead after an explosion and fire at a home in Hermantown, Minn., on Jan. 31.
Hermantown Police Chief Jim Crace identified those killed as Gayle Nelsen, 89, and Joan Wisneski, 88.
No one else was hurt in the powerful explosion that mangled an apartment building, blew out windows, and could be felt across Hermantown Saturday evening.
The explosion happened at about 6:20 p.m., Crace said during a Sunday news conference.
The state fire marshal still is investigating the cause of the blast, but Crace said the explosion “blew the roof off” of a six-unit apartment building where Nelsen and Wisneski lived, and blew the windows out of several buildings in the neighborhood.
Crace described a chaotic scene Saturday evening as police and firefighters from several agencies in the area scrambled to pull people out of the wreckage and account for all the residents.
Fires spread to other buildings, and Crace said it took hours for a gas utility to shut off a leak that also was in flames. Several apartments in the neighborhood were without gas and electricity Saturday night, he said.
Eight other people were displaced, Crace said, both from the apartment building, which he said was a total loss, and from nearby buildings with shattered windows.
