1 injured in fireworks explosion in SE Minn.
A man is seriously injured after an explosion at a garage holding fireworks near Claremont in southeastern Minnesota.
Fire and rescue personnel were dispatched around 2:40 p.m. Thursday after the Quonset hut exploded, badly burning the garage's owner.
The man, whose name has not been released, was airlifted by Mayo One helicopter to a Twin Cities hospital burn unit. He was in critical condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul on Thursday evening.
An eyewitness says the blast "blew me right off my feet."
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Kerry Schroeder's house sits next to the garage. Schroeder says he and other neighbors were aware that the man was storing and possibly manufacturing fireworks in the garage - and had even contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives because of the possible danger of storing such explosives.
By 4 p.m. the scene was declared free from the possibility of any more explosions.
The state fire marshal's office and the Dodge County sheriff's office are investigating.
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