COLUMBIA FALLS – A NorthWestern Energy employee responding to a gas line break in Columbia Falls was killed Thursday afternoon when a home near the work site exploded.
The man was part of a crew working near a home on the corner of Second Ave. W. and 12th St. W., across from the Church of Christ, in Columbia Falls. The victim was using a gas leak detector about 20 feet away from the house when it exploded just before 4 p.m. The victim was struck by the front wall of the home, according to Dave Leib, coroner for the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities are waiting to release the name of the victim until his family can be notified.
The house belongs to Columbia Falls residents Ted and Myrtle Langton, who were not at home at the time of the explosion.
The Columbia Falls fire department was already on scene when the house exploded. They were on standby as three NorthWestern Energy employees repaired a gas line in a hole roughly 200 feet from the house.
Two other NorthWestern Energy employees were working closer to the house, according to authorities. One was working in an excavator while another, the victim, worked along side with the leak detector, about 20 feet away from the blast, according to Columbia Falls Police Chief Dave Perry.
Perry also reported that another person was slightly injured in the blast.
Columbia Falls residents reported hearing and feeling the explosion from eight to 10 blocks away. One man, who lives six houses away from the blast, said insulation from the home landed in his yard.
Crews had to maintain distance at times as live ammunition fired when reached by the flames. A backhoe was brought in to help remove debris as firefighters sprayed water into the basement of the leveled house.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
Perry, who was at home eight blocks away at the time of the explosion, said he was worried his own windows would break from the force of the blast. Living behind a Town Pump, Perry often hears people overfill and pop their tires. But this sound was much different, he said.
“I knew right away this was more than just a tire,” Perry said.
The Columbia Falls Police Department, Columbia Falls Fire Department, Bad Rock Fire and QRU, Three Rivers EMS, Northwestern Energy and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.
Related: NorthWestern Energy Identifies Columbia Falls Blast Victim