By Jacqui Seibel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. — The state Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the church explosion in Oconomowoc, city Public Safety Director and Police Chief David Beguhn said Monday.
The agencies offered their services and the city accepted on the day of Wednesday’s explosion, in which seven people were injured and the First Baptist Church was leveled, he said.
Beguhn had been out of state last week. The police will remain the lead agency, but the state and federal agencies are handling the investigation in the field. Beguhn said he hopes to have information on the blast by today.
Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Leidel, who was standing 30 feet from the church when it exploded, said the focus of the investigation is on the church since the explosion originated inside.
His department received a call at 1:19 p.m. for an odor of natural gas. The fire department, along with We Energies, which had representatives on the scene, had just begun their investigation when the church exploded at 1:26 p.m., he said.
A We Energies employee remains hospitalized with a head injury, Leidel said. Three others and two firefighters were taken to hospitals, where they were treated and released. One firefighter was treated at the scene, he said.
The gas leak is believed to have been caused when a backhoe being used to install new sewer pipes under Wisconsin Ave. ruptured a natural gas main. Gas may have migrated underground and into the church, where a ringing phone or a furnace turning on could have ignited the gas, resulting in an explosion, Leidel said.
George Yoksas, OSHA area director, confirmed that the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration is also investigating last week’s explosion.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said. He expects his agency’s investigation to take some time since there are many agencies involved including the city, the contractor, and We Energies. Each agency is doing its own investigation.
The contractor for the sewer installation project, Dorner Inc. of Luxemburg, was hired by the state Department of Transportation. Dorner, which has not been found to have caused the explosion, has been fined more than $260,000 by OSHA in the last 10 years for safety violations.
Copyright 2008 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel