Willmar tribune., 1901-09-25
CITY PLANT IN RUINS
Boiler at the City Power House
Explodes and Wrecks the
Light Plant. -
THE CITY IN DARKNESS

Nils sredsson. the Engineer, ESCAPED
oesth hsirseulously.-Exset Cause Of
Exp'osio" Is Not Known
and Engines Buried Under Ton. Of
Brick and Mortsr.-city Has SO, 900
insurance., Which Will Not Nearly
Cover tho Loss.-Power Was Supplied
tor Pumping Water In Fifteen Hours
after Explosion.
Many of the people of Willmar were
rudely awakened from their slumbers
at ten minutes past two O'Clock last
Sunday morning by a sudden shock
or jar. Most of them; hearing moth
ing more, went to sleep again. Those
who got up and went out to investi-
gate found the city in total darkness,
and realizing that something had hap
pened to theelectric light plant, rushed
there to see what was the matter.
They found the building a mass of
ruins, and the cause was soon ascer-
tanned.
One OF the smaller boilers in the
plant had exploded, and it had
wrought fearful havoc. The roof was
blown off and most of it splintered to
kindling wood. The brick walls, ex-
cept in the pump room, were razed to
the ground. The latter walls were
still standing, but in such dilapidated
condition that they must be razed too.
The boiler was rent wide open and
torn into many fragments. The other
small boiler was knocked down and
dented so as to be beyond repairs.
The dynamos were buried under the
debris and presumably destroyed.
The electric switchboard was totally
destroyed. In fact, it looked as if
everything in the plant was destroyed.
Nils Bredeson, one of the men on
the night force was the only one in
the building at the time of the explo-
sion. It seems miracle that he could
be in that awful wreck and escape with
his life. He had gone on duty at
twelve o'clock, relieving Joseph Will
Jams. At that time everything seemed
in perfect order. Mr.. Bredeson made,
the following statement to a TRIBUNE
reporter:
"About five or six minutes before
the explosion I had looked at the
boiler. The steam gauge showed 90l
pounds of pressure. There was not
quite half q glass of water. There
were four or five sticks of wood in the
fire box and just enough fire to keep
it alive. The boiler was not at the
time connected with anything. I was
just getting it ready to use, as wanted
to cool down the big boiler for clean
ing it. I then went over to the big
boiler. I heard the crash and it
flashed through my mind that the tank
was falling. The next moment I was
. so dazed that don't know just what
happened to me. The first thing I
knew someone was calling my name.
was then in the pump pit and trying
to get out.
l have no idea what caused the ex-
plosion. The boiler had been cleaned
about month ago, but had not been
used over forty hours in all since that
time. It was used only for a few
hours every Saturday night, while we
cleaned the big boiler. The boiler
was never quite satisfactory, as it
would foam whenever the steam went
down to 80 pounds when carrying a
full load. The safety valve was set
to los pounds, and we had to keep the
steam betweeen those points,"
John Guam and Henry Traue
were the first ones on the grounds af-
ter the accident. They helped Brede-
son out of the pit. Although stunned,
he was able to walk to the Frost hos
pital. An examination revealed the
fact that he had sustained no serious
injuries. He had scorched one hand
by grabbing hold of some hot pipes
while cropping around in the pit. The
left wrist was scalded; there was a
flesh wound in the right.arm, and some
scalp wounds in the head. Although
weakened by the terrible shock he has
been able to be around.
There was only one place in the
building where man had any chance
of escaping with his life, and it was
Bredeson's good fortune to be in that
particular place. The two boilers be-
tween him and the exploding boiler
acted as shields from the flying frag-
ments.-o the boiler and pipes as we'll
as the scalding water, and it happened
that no parts of the roof or walls fell
lust. there. But his good fortune did
+ not leave him there. When he fell in
to the pit he might have been killed
by striking the pumps or the fragments
thrown in there by the explos1 on.
i When Henry Traue and John Guam
,a reached the scene Bredeson had hold
81 the railing and was trying to climb
out, but lost his hold and fell back g g
second time before they could reacn
him. He got up once more and Traue q 9
\ pulled him out. Few men have passed
sthr rough such experiences and lived TO
tell the story.
L When morning dawned .it appeared
q If everything was ruined. But when
things had been cleared away some
/ sx,,hat it was found that the damage
M, = ~ not 81 far % serious as II might
e1ya ~ ., -, Al 1nrs hoi1 1nro