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Explosion in Downtown Bozeman: One Woman Killed in Blast

By Courtney Lowery and Lucia Stewart, 3-05-09

Courtesy photo. Minutes after the explosion before the fires took a hold.

Update Monday, March 9: Authorities have identified the one casualty of the blast as 36-year-old Tara Reistad Bowman, who was working at the Montana Trails Gallery at the time of the explosion. Bowman’s body was recovered from the rubble on Sunday.

There will be an auction and fundraiser for all those affected by the explosion on Saturday, March 18th from Noon until Midnight at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. Drop off points for auction items include: The Country Bookshef at 28 West Main, Downtown Antiques at 122 East Main, and Artistic Images at 25 North Willson. Donations of money can be sent to First Security Bank at 208 East Main.  Checks should be made out to Downtown Bozeman Association for the downtown recovery fund.

Update Friday, March 6: Bozeman officials said at a press conference this morning that one person remains missing. Otherwise there were no injuries. The gas was turned off late last night and the fire is now smoldering and under control. National guard troops helped secure downtown last night. Fire crews are now beginning their investigation. Air quality from the smoke plume is a concern, and most of Main Street - from Rouse to Wilson - remains closed, though part of it is open to pedestrian traffic. Officials are checking the structural integrity of buildings in vicinity one by one. Business owners and others can call a hotline at 406-582-2300 to get the latest information.

Thursday, March 5th: An explosion early Thursday morning in downtown Bozeman destroyed several businesses, including two bars, an art gallery and the American Legion. Police officials confirmed this afternoon that only one person is unaccounted for and there are no reports yet on injuries.

The explosion happened at 8:12 a.m. at Boodles bar and restaurant and spread from there, destroying the nearby Rockin R bar, the Montana Trails Gallery, Lilly Lu’s and the American Legion. Starkey’s Deli is where the fire ceased; the popular lunch spot sustained extensive smoke and water damage but is still standing. On the other side, where the Rockin’ R was burned, crews worked to stop it from spreading into the Rocky Mountain Rug Gallery, which sustained mostly water damage.

City officials said at a press conference this afternoon that the crews have stopped the fire at Starkey’s Deli and have it contained at the Rockin’ R.

The fire is still burning, but Assistant City Manager Chuck Winn said this afternoon it will go out once the gas gets shut off. Some lines were still burning—left so intentionally to make sure there was no build up anywhere. The governor said the gas will likely be shut off by 4:30 p.m.

The natural gas line that exploded dated back to the 1920-1930’s, said a representative of NorthWestern Energy, and didn’t have an emergency shutoff valve. NorthWestern Energy closed the valve on Black Street after digging it up, and was currently working on installing a valve on Rouse Street in order to isolate the exploded line.

The heart of natural gas service for Greater Bozeman is centrally located downtown, therefore downtown’s natural gas system could not be shut off without major implications for thousands of residents and buildings.

Crews haven’t been able to get into rubble to check for injured people or casualties. Winn said this morning: “There’s so much damage there and so much fire there that we can’t get our crews in to assess at this time ... to do the kind of searches we typically do.”

NewWest.Net Bozeman editor Lucia Stewart says there’s glass shattered out of storefronts as far as four blocks away on Willson, and debris is spread in at least a 200-foot radius. Winn said this afternoon that cinderblocks from the site were found some two blocks away. Strangely, the window of the City Hall building where the press conference took place was also shattered, and actually framed the billowing smoke from the explosion site.

Main street is closed off from Rouse to Willson, but officials said parts of downtown may open late in the day. The 100 block of east Main (Rouse to Bozeman) is likely to be closed for several days, however.

Many business owners on Main Street cannot access their stores at this time, with many worried merchants curious about the security of their inventory now that the glass is broken out and inclement weather is expected to move in tonight. There are also concerns of frozen water pipes, since now that the gas is expected to be shut off by the late afternoon, many downtown building’s heat will also be shut off.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer immediately flew in and was on hand at the press conference. He promised support for those affected by the explosion—business owners, workers and the like. He encouraged people to call the Department of Commerce for help at 406-841-2700 or Labor Commerce at 406-444-3111.

The Downtown Business Association is also working hard to keep downtown merchants informed and assisted.

There’s some amazing photographs and on-the-scene information coming out of Twitter. Go here (#bozexplod) to see the tweets and here to see some photographs.

Watch superjaberwocky’s Twitter feed here —so far the most updates.

Or, Manifest Creative out of Bozeman is tweeting like mad as well, with lots of helpful information: Here and here.

Here’s a map they’ve created for the areas affected:

View Larger Map

You can also follow live coverage on KMMS here. or see coverage here from the Bozeman Chronicle or here from KBXZ.

There’s also an amazing photo gallery here.

Here’s a few photographs from Craig Dugas, who also has a bunch of photos from right after the explosion here: and on his Flickr page here.

Here’s one from Craig of the cleanup starting:

Pictures from Greg Lemon:

Video from local:

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