No Criminal Conduct Found in Ellison Bay Explosions
From wbay.com
March 19, 2007 06:48 PM
By Andrew FeferEight months after a series of deadly explosions in Ellison Bay, the investigation is complete and the Door County district attorney says no criminal charges will be filed.
The propane explosions rocked the small tourist town last year on July 10th. The three explosions happened within blocks of each other.
One blast caused the first floor of the Pioneer General Store to collapse, injuring one person. To the west. A second explosion at the Cedar Grove Resort happened at a building used mostly for storage. The most damage happened northwest of there, at a duplex cottage on the Cedar Grove Resort, where rescue crews found the bodies of two people who died in the explosions.
The report is hundreds of pages long and documents how a construction crew unknowingly severed a propane line at Cedar Grove Resort.
A year ago, the resort wanted an electrical upgrade at their north and south docks.
Within the report are sketches, maps, and documents showing how five different companies, most from Northeast Wisconsin, all failed to map out buried propane lines on the property.
The report goes on to say Arby’s Construction bored its way right through one of the propane lines while digging a trench July 7th.
Propane started leaking into the ground and didn’t stop for three days, fueling the explosions on July 10th.
Investigators found the leak after searching for five days.
The district attorney concludes there was negligence before the explosions but nothing criminal.
“The district attorney didn’t feel there was a high degree of criminal negligence there,” Sheriff Terry Vogel said after the report’s release.
Asked if he agreed, Sheriff Vogel said, “I concur with the D.A.’s decision on that, yes.”
To this day there’s no word on what ignited the propane. Officials say there may never be.
“For the most part we’re– our department is pretty much done with everything here. We are going to be working with this case for several years, working with some of the attorneys on the civil end,” Vogel said.
The report identifies a man who smelled a strong odor two days before the explosions but never reported it.