Sheriff: Plant explosion could have been worse

Jan. 11, 2017 – A sheriff says a truck plant explosion that hurt several people in southeastern Minnesota could have been much worse.

Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose told reporters that many employees at McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing in Dodge Center who would have been in the area of the paint shop explosion were off-site at a training exercise Wednesday.

Rose says six people were injured. He says two were airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul while two were taken by ambulance to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester. Their conditions were not available. Another two were being treated at the scene.

The sheriff says it’s his understanding “it was quite an explosion.” He says all employees have been accounted for.

According to the McNeilus website, the plant has a 145-acre campus with 15.5 acres under a roof.