Tanker truck explosion

causes fire at farm coop

A tanker truck carrying propane caught fire and exploded Friday (Feb. 3) at a farm cooperative and fuel supplier southwest of Whitewater, damaging a building but causing no injuries.

The explosion was reported shortly after 3 p.m. at Landmark Services Co-op on State Highway 59 in Lima Township, according to the Rock County Sheriff's Office.

According to the sheriff's office and Wisconsin Emergency Management, an employee was filling the truck tank from an on-site tank when the filling tube disconnected from the truck, allowing propane into the area.

The employee was unable to reconnect the tube and an unknown source ignited the propane, causing the truck and then the holding tank to explode.

The truck was engulfed in flames and a second explosion blasted holes in the sides of the metal building where the tanker was being loaded, causing the structure to catch fire.

The truck tank had been filled with about 3,400 gallons of propane but it was unknown how much was in the larger supply tank.

It took an hour for firefighters from 13 agencies to put out the blaze.

Highway 59 was closed for two hours and traffic in the area rerouted, authorities said.