Blasts and fires in Montana

From the Helena Independent Record webpage:

BOZEMAN — One person is still unaccounted for after a natural gas explosion ripped a giant crater in the 200 block of Main Street shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday.Intense heat and structural damage prevented firefighters from searching the blast scene, city officials said, and several hours passed before natural gas could be cut to the area.“There is so much damage there and so much fire we cannot get in and do the type of searches that we do,” said Chuck Winn, Bozeman assistant city manager. “If you haven’t seen this, I cannot describe what it looks like. I’ve worked public safety for 24 years in this city and this is the worst catastrophe I’ve worked.”

Click link for whole story. The blast in Bozeman, MT occurred on Thursday, March 5, 2009. Then on Friday, March 6, 2009 the following happened.

WHITEHALL — Flames engulfed four downtown Whitehall storefronts around 11 a.m. Friday, destroying two businesses and heavily damaging two others.At the Legion Street Grill, one of those destroyed, co-owner Gabi Hall was doing paperwork in a back room when she said an explosion knocked her out of her chair.“There was this huge boom,” she said. “I got up and thought about opening the door (to a dry storage area where the explosion came from) but saw flames and smoke and just got out of there.”Hall said no one was in the storage room at the time of the explosion and no one was reported injured in the resulting blaze, which spread to five neighboring businesses.Besides destroying the grill, the fire engulfed the neighboring DD Tax Service. The Mint Bar and Cottage Floral and Gifts, located at Main and Legion, sustained serious damage, according to eye witnesses. Click here for the rest of the story.

For those who don't know: My parents live in Whitehall. They had breakfast at the Legion Street Grill (where the fire broke out) the morning of the fire. Shortly after they left the fire broke out. This is a devastating loss for this little town. Here are some pictures that my dad took of the aftermath of the fire:

I used to live in Bozeman and from the sounds of the magnitude of the blast, we would of felt it where we lived. Updated today is that they have found a body amidst the rubble in the Bozeman blast. Two catastrophes in 2 days in towns that are near and dear to my heart. It leaves me wondering what will happen next. . . . . .