1 dead in Bolivar well explosion

1 dead in Bolivar well explosion by TimesReporter.com staff, July 16, 2012
The explosion occurred about two miles south of Bolivar in the vicinity of Bolivar Group Home, 10071 State Route 212. That is also near Kingwood Drive NE and Huffman Square NE in Wilkshire Hills subdivision. Firefighters responding to the blaze told The Times-Reporter that there was one fatality from the explosion, which caused flames to shoot at least 50 feet into the air. … Nathan Mutschelknaus of Dover, an employee of the group home owned and operated by Horizons Inc., was an eye-witness to the explosion. “I was out back, pressure-washing the porch and moving some of the furniture when the ground started to shake. I was looking over at the oil well, wondering what was shaking. Next thing I know, I heard the loud explosion and felt the shockwave,” Mutschelknaus told The Times-Reporter. After a storage tank cover shot about 100 feet into the air, Mutschelknaus said fuel leaked down the driveway into a neighbor’s field. “The driveway all the way through the ditch into the neighbor’s field was on fire,” he said. That’s when he saw the green cap of the oil tank land an estimated 50 yards away from its original location.  … Hazardous-materials crews were working this morning to control the fuel spill. Mutschelknaus said the well and oil-storage tank is about 50 yard yards north of the residential home. Of 12 residents who live at the group home, Mutschelknaus said only one was there at the time of the explosion.

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