Natural gas pipeline break forces evacuations

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Dec. 28, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Ten trailer houses in Bemidji's Roosevelt Manor mobile home park were evacuated Monday afternoon because of a natural gas pipeline break.

An Ottertail Power Company crew, digging a hole for a power pole, punctured a 2-inch, plastic main gas line along Roosevelt Road Southeast about 1:10 p.m., according to Peoples Natural Gas Director of Operations Ron Carlberg.

Immediately after the line was punctured, the Bemidji Police and Fire Departments were notified, and fire personnel helped keep people in their homes until NSP personnel arrived, according to the fire department's Dean Baggenstoss.

After NSP personnel arrived, they decided the area should be evacuated for safety's sake, and about 10 trailers were notified. Baggenstoss said several adults and one infant were transferred to the American Red Cross building in downtown Bemidji by a bus, arranged by the Law Enforcement Center. Others evacuated from the trailer park had their own transportation, he said.

"We wanted to error on the side of caution, you know," Carlberg said.

An NSP crew began repairing the puncture as soon as the people were evacuated. They were allowed to return to their homes about 2:45 p.m., according to Carlberg. The line repair was complete by 4:30 p.m.

He said four NSP customers lost their service from about 1:10 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

"By 4:30, everything was back to normal," Carlberg said. "The guys did a good job of making sure that everybody was safe."

The NSP crew called in to repair the line was on vacation for the Christmas holiday.

Carlberg said he does not know how the accident happened because no investigation has been done yet.

"I'm not going to guess why it happened," he said.