KETTLE RIVER, Minn. — An explosion in northern Minnesota Tuesday evening left two women seriously injured and a home leveled.
Carlton County dispatchers received a 911 call just before 9 p.m. reporting an explosion and subsequent fire at a home in Silver Township. The caller said a 75-year-old woman had been injured, and another person was trapped in the basement.
By the time Kettle River fire crews and first responders arrived at the residence the second victim, a 52-year-old woman, had managed to get out of the home. According to the Carlton County Sheriff's Office, both victims suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to Essentia St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth.
At this time there is no official word on their conditions.
Before leaving the scene one of the women told first responders that she tried to turn on the furnace inside the home, and that's when the explosion occurred.
The cause of the explosion and fire are under investigation by the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Fire Marshal’s Office.
