Swenson, Elmer (1916-1979)

SWENSON, JERDE

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 2/10/2015 at 11:24:02

Daily Freeman Journal, Wednesday, March 14, 1979

Gas line blast, fire takes farmer's life

Hamilton Co. farm scene of tragedy

A grey day dawned over the site of an early morning gas line explosion in the southeastern corner of Hamilton county which cost one man his life and left another hospitalized.

Authorities said that Elmer Swenson, 61, was stricken with a heart attack while sitting in a patrol car after the explosion which sent a huge fire ball into the air and burned to the ground the man's home and another small building on the farmstead.

Another man, Bob Muhlenbuck, 39, of Story City, who is employed by Williams Bros. Pipe Line Co., also suffered an apparent heart attack on the scene while trying to shut off a valve feeding gas to the fire.

The force of the explosion sent a 1,000 gallon storage tank at the farm hurtling into a field approximately a quarter mile from the farm home. It was not located until this morning after dawn.

The fire ball that was sent into the air was seen from distances as far away as 15 miles.

"I was just about to go off duty when I heard the call," said Hamilton County Deputy Dennis Jackson. "I went outside (at the Hamilton County courthouse) and saw the whole sky was red down there." The Hardin County sheriff, who was in Eldora at the time of the explosion and a matron at the Story County jail, Cathy Sparks, also reported seeing the glow given off by the fire.

At one point flames were seen leaping into the air at heights up to 30 feet with firefighters standing by.

Jackson located one valve approximately three miles north of the scene, but found it padlocked and had to borrow a pair of bolt cutters from a local farmer to cut the chain and shut the gas off. Story County Sheriff's Deputy Brad Anderson also shut another valve off located about a mile south of the fire.

Two six-inch mains eight feet apart owned by the Williams Bros. Pipeline Co. run in the ditch just in front of the farm home that was destroyed. It was one of these mains that apparently ruptured. Just why it ruptured is not immediately known.

Northern Natural Gas Co. also has three-inch, 20 and 26 inch gas lines running within a mile and a half of the fire site, but no apparent danger to the area resulted from these lines.

Authorities who were on the scene reported that Swenson told officials at the scene before he died that he had been awakened by his dog barking and heard a hissing noise outside. He suffered an initial heart attack in Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Lyle Seiser's patrol car and later was taken to the Story City Memorial Hospital by the Story City ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriffs and deputies from Hamilton, Hardin and Story counties were on the scene early this morning, along with firefighters from Story City, Jewell and Roland, members of the Story City and Nevada police and a Civil Defense director from Zearing.

The officials aided in blocking off the area for a mile in each direction until the danger of another explosion had passed. The shutdown of the gas flow was completed with the aid of Tulsa, Okla. authorities whose messages were relayed to the men on the scene by a dispatcher at about 7:30 this morning.

Authorities are now waiting for the fire to burn itself out in order to survey the damage.

Daily Freeman Journal, Thursday, March 15, 1979

Swenson rites on Saturday at Roland church

Funeral services for Elmer Swenson, 62, Roland area farmer who died yesterday of an apparent heart attack following the propane gas blast at his farm in southeast Hamilton county, will be held Saturday afternoon.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Salem church in Roland with the Rev. Nelson officiating and with burial in the Roland cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Soderstrum-Larson funeral home in Story City until 10:30 Saturday morning when it will be taken to the church.

Elmer Swenson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Swenson, was born Nov. 7, 1916 in Story County, and had engaged in farming in the Roland area for many years.

He was married to Amy Jerde in 1942.

He was preceded in death by his wife; one sister and his parents.

Surviving are three sons, Roger, James and Paul Swenson, all of Story City; four grandchildren; four brothers and six sisters.

He was a member of the Salem church.