Blast destroys church near Milwaukee

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (AP) — An explosion in a Milwaukee suburb demolished a church and damaged two homes today, injuring seven people, including three firefighters, authorities said.

A crew from WE Energies responded to a call around 12:30 p.m. that a gas line in downtown Oconomowoc had been hit, company spokesman Rick James said. Two or three workers were there when the explosion occurred, said James, who did not know if any had been injured.

James said he did not yet know whether natural gas caused the explosion. But the company turned off natural gas service to about 150 customers in the area around First Baptist Church Oconomowoc, and emergency workers were evacuating nearby homes and businesses.

One person was flown to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and was being evaluated, hospital spokeswoman Carolyn Bellin said. Three others, including a firefighter, were taken to Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital with cuts, bruises and abrasions, administrative assistant Jeanne Ward said.

Bob Duffy, economic development director for Oconomowoc, said two other firefighters suffered minor injuries, but he did not know their whereabouts.

Smoke billowed from what remained of the church and a neighboring home this afternoon, obscuring the view of the 100 or so people who had gathered outside.

Joy Freudenstein, 30, was cleaning her house about three blocks from the church when she heard a boom. She immediately thought it was an earthquake.

“It shook my house,” Freudenstein said. “It sounded like someone downstairs blew something up.”

Waukesha County Board Supervisor Kenneth Herro, who works a block away as a real estate agent, said he heard an explosion and walked to the scene.

“The church basically had disappeared and the only thing remaining was the steeple in the front,” Herro said.

He said he smelled natural gas and ambulances were pulling away as he arrived. One house on each side of the church was on fire, he said.

The explosion shook downtown, Herro said. “We have really large windows, all the windows just kind of bowed out,” he said.

City Clerk Diane Coenen said there is road construction near the church, but she didn’t know whether there was a gas leak.

“There was flying debris from the building that exploded,” she said.

Oconomowoc is about 30 miles west of Milwaukee.

Associated Press Writer Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee contributed to this report.