Crews continue to increase radius where explosion leveled buildings in downtown Sun Prairie

Gas mains turned off at the site

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Officials are continuing to increase the radius around the site of an explosion in downtown Sun Prairie, according to officials with the police department.

After the explosion leveled several buildings and sent two firefighters and a police officer to the hospital Tuesday, officials are saying all of the gas leaks are now contained.

The explosion is at the intersection of Main and Bristol streets. Evacuations are underway at this time within a half-mile radius, and police are asking people to avoid the area “because it is not safe.”

Hearing more explosions, smoke getting bigger. We’ve told to move back from wear we are stationed. Crews say this is no longer a safe zone. pic.twitter.com/tLswcyBEBG

— Keely Arthur (@news3keely) July 11, 2018

Police said they were called to the area around 6:20 p.m. for complaints of the smell of gas, and then there was an explosion. Police could not confirm any civilian fatalities or injuries at this time. No one has been reported missing from the area, but teams still need to do a “search and rescue” effort.

Construction was happening near the evacuation site, according to police. Officials with WE Energies said they have been made aware of an independent contractor hitting a natural gas main in downtown Sun Prairie. Now that the gas line is turned off, 500 customers have been affected by the outage.

#BREAKING: @we_energies confirms they were made aware of a contractor hitting a natural gas main in downtown #SunPrairie before explosion. #news3

— WISCTV News 3 (@WISCTV_News3) July 11, 2018

Barr House and Glass Nickel Pizza suffered damage, among other buildings in the area. Police said there is a lot of glass at the scene.

Officials called for mutual aid from other agencies in the area.

Those who have been evacuated have been gathering at Sun Prairie High School. A family assistance center has been opened at the Sun Prairie High School gym, Sun Prairie police said.

The Red Cross is staging a reception center for evacuated residents with snacks and other resources.

“The response from this community has been fantastic … people are coming up and say ‘how can I help,'” Sun Prairie Police Lt. Kevin Konopacki said.

Here’s a photo of the #SunPraire explosion aftermath from a #news3 producer on the scene. Did you see or hear this in your area? pic.twitter.com/R9Hlnvp05w

— WISCTV News 3 (@WISCTV_News3) July 11, 2018

All summer school classes will be canceled in Sun Prairie because of the explosion. Classes will resume Thursday.

Police said multiple members of the community are reaching out to try to provide aid to those displaced.

This is a developing story, News 3 has a crew at the scene. Stick with Channel 3000 for updates.

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