Sunny December Day Turns Tragic: The Gas Explosion That Rocked St. Cloud 25 Years Ago

(KNSI) — It was a sunny, warm December day 25 years ago when a gas explosion rocked downtown St. Cloud, killing four people and diminishing nearby buildings to rubble.

Temperatures were pushing 40 degrees on December 11th, 1998, almost ten degrees above normal. The mild conditions allowed crews to work late into the year installing fiber optic cable. Around 10:15 a.m., the contractors punctured a one-inch underground natural gas pipe while installing a utility pole support anchor on the corner of 1st Street North and 9th Avenue North. Officials tried to secure the area over the next 90 minutes until an ignition source caused the gas to blow at 11:29 a.m.

One of the first to be called was then Stearns County Sheriff Jim Kostreba. Kostreba spoke with KNSI News and said he had been at the local Boy Scout Office when he got the urgent call to return to the law enforcement center. “I had to come into a back way because some of the roads were blocked due to the explosion. And when I pulled up, I could see that there was an awful lot of destruction right across the street from the court facilities building.”

The detonation destroyed Bellantti’s Pizza & Deli, Book Em’s Bar, Hall Law Office, Tom’s Bar and Bartsh Bail Bonds. The buildings either collapsed in the explosion or were too damaged to repair. Kostreba recalls first responders diving into the pile to rescue those buried in debris.” It was a very large rescue effort. There is an awful lot of firefighters on scene, and they did a fantastic job getting the injured out and trying to determine if there were people still trapped.”

One of those killed was a Northern States Power Company gas technician and locator. Also killed were a pedestrian walking outside the taped-off area and a renter living in one of the rooms above Bellantti’s Pizza. The tenant was found in the basement of the collapsed building. Firefighters saved four people working at Hall Law offices. Eleven people were hurt, including two firefighters and one police officer. Five buildings were leveled.

The explosion also damaged the Stearns County court facilities building, Taco John’s and Howie’s Bar. It caused an estimated $399,000 in damage. Today, that would be roughly $750,000.

Sheriff Steve Soyka was relatively new to the force after being hired two years earlier. He remembers where he was at the time. “I was at my house, which was over on the east side of St. Cloud, and I literally felt the boom and heard something way over there. And I thought, what the heck was that?”

Soyka says it wasn’t long after that he was asked to head downtown to help with traffic control and distinctly remembers the National Guard with their Humvees on the street. He says it wasn’t until the next day did he take in the true amount of destruction. “I remember it had been buildings one day, and I come to work the next day, and it’s a big pile of rubble.”

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis was a state senator at the time and was paying a visit on the east side of town when the explosion happened. “We heard something. I didn’t know what it was. I mean, [I] didn’t for a moment think it was an explosion. I just thought I heard something very loud.”

Kleis says he was shocked when he saw the scene. Governor Arnie Carlson flew to town to see the damage for himself and offer assistance.

He says the tragedy exposed the need for all emergency responders to be able to communicate with one another. “The state needed some type of radio system. And that really was the impetus for it. The fact that you could certainly see a breakdown in it on that day.” Communication was difficult on the scene between departments because not everyone’s equipment could operate on the same channels.

Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response is Minnesota’s primary two-way public safety radio system for all state agencies as well as all police, fire, EMS, city, county, federal and tribal governments. Original funding for the ARMER Radio system came from the State Legislature in 2002. It was first built in the Twin Cities in 2004, and then expanded to St. Cloud and Rochester. The system was fully functional by 2013. Along with providing personalized/private communications for its users, the ARMER system provides a very robust Interoperability Communications platform where all users can communicate with each other by using certain talk groups.

A National Transportation Safety Board report stated gas most likely built up in the basement of Bellantti’s and was ignited by a water heater’s pilot light. The same report faulted the safety and emergency practices of Cable Constructors, Inc., whose employees punctured the gas line, and the procedures and training of the St. Cloud Fire Department for responding to gas leaks.

Today, the site of the explosion is a gravel parking lot owned by the county and used as employee parking.

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