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Sun Prairie explosion leads to evacuations across the city

Posted at 1:04 PM, Jul 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-11 14:32:14-04

MILWAUKEE -- A Wisconsin neighborhood is waking up in disarray this morning —after a deadly gas line explosion rocked downtown Sun Prairie, leveling buildings and killing one firefighter and injuring several other people. The city is just east of Madison. 

“They came into our rooms and said 'Evac! You gotta get out,'" 79-year-old Dan Lalley said.

This after a building exploded while police and firefighters were investigating a gas leak Tuesday evening. One firefighter is dead following the blast, another is in stable condition, and police say several other people walked away with minor injuries —but Lalley and his neighbors at TallGrass senior living facility were evacuated safely from their building with the help of a few high school students. They spent the night at Sun Prairie High School, but today they’re going home.

“It feels good [to be going home]," Lalley said. "I didn’t sleep much last night," he continued. 

Dozens of other people like, John Dollak echoed Lalley's sentiments of a sleepless night. Dollak said he lives five blocks from downtown, but the explosion still shook his home —and although parts of his city have been reduced to rubble he said he expects his Sun Prairie to rebound. 

“We’ll recover," Dollak said. 

"We’ll recover very strong," he continued.