Bozeman/Whitehall connection? (Helena, Townsend: city hall, cinema, earthquake)

[northridge radio]

Kind of a strange coincidence that two city"s have "explosions" within 24 hours of each other,both events occurring on Main streets of each city.Anybody heard any rumors they like to share with a concerned citizen of the State of Washington?

[RobinD69]

Just a coincidence. The Bozeman incident was a leaking gas line and the Whitehall one is believed to have been caused by a minor (4.2) earthquake.

[northridge radio]

Several Whitehall businesses were destroyed by a fire that raged through the city's downtown and firefighters worked feverishly Friday afternoon to get the blaze under control.
A two-block radius in the area of West Legion Avenue and North Main Street remains evacuated Friday evening. The entire town was without electricity Friday until shortly before 5:30 p.m.
An explosion led to the fire that destroyed a handful of businesses at the intersection of Legion and Main.
Crews will remain on the scene all night watching for hot spots or flare-ups, Whitehall Fire Chief Rick Strauss said.
Legion Street will remain closed through the night and at least part of the street will remain closed Saturday.
Charred debris filled Main Street in front of some of the burned-out businesses.
Five fire departments responded to the blaze. Most of those returned to their stations Friday night. The fire marshal is on the scene and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
Just over an hour after the fire started, it had gotten into a main power line, which feeds various sources directly from the NorthWestern substation, officials at NorthWestern Energy said.
In order to prevent that line from being damaged along with other equipment, NorthWestern de-energized the line as a precautionary measure, leaving the entire town without power. Crews began working to return the power at 5 p.m.
Businesses that have been destroyed include the Legion Street Grill, Mint Bar, Cottage Floral and D & D Tax Service. Firefighters were working to save several others Friday afternoon.
Several other businesses are engulfed in flames, according to witnesses at the scene.
An official with the Montana Department of Transportation said a call came in at about 11:30 a.m. that several businesses had been lost.
Other businesses in the area include Whitehall Drug, McCloud Realtors and Whitehall Cinemas.
Owners of the Legion Street Grill said the restaurant was just starting to fill up with lunchtime customers when there was an explosion.
"I was doing the inventory, finishing up for taxes, it was 11 o'clock and I heard the explosion. It just knocked me off my chair and I saw smoke and ran up to the restaurant and told (co-owner) Jane (Bowman), ‘We need to get everybody out of the building. I don't know what it was.' It was like instantly," owner Gabi Hall said.
There were 15 to 20 customers in the restaurant at the time of the explosion along with six employees, Hall said. No one was injured.
Flames could be seen 75-feet in the air, one worker in the area said.
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake centered some 12 miles south of Whitehall occurred at about 4:30 a.m. Friday, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology said. The bureau had no immediate reports of property damage and it is unclear if the two incidents are related.
Whitehall has roughly 1,100 residents.

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=9960875&nav=menu227_5

[AQHA]

Aliens I tell you, aliens. Which town might they hit next-- Butte? Helena? Muley? Townsend? We are under invasion folks. You thought the Californians invading us was bad wait until the UFO's land in front of the State Capitol Building and send the green one eyed message carrier up to meet with the governor and his dog to discuss their demands with him. I have no idea what the aliens might demand but I have a bad feeling about this. My thinking is that they might make us give them Jane Fonda in return for our safety. We might even lose David Letterman before this thing is over.

[MontanaFan]

I think it's best to wait until the investigations are complete, but there are definitely rumors flying around. My heart goes out to Bozeman. Some of my best memories were made at the Rockin' R!

[rangerider]

If you have memories of the Rockin' R, you must have been there on a slow night...

[ladyflyfsh]

It does seem like an incredible coincidence but a 4.1 earthquake is not enough to do much damage. I felt much worse earthquakes when I lived in Waterloo which is where this one was epicentered. The fact that two restaurants in two MT towns just 56 miles from each other had gas explosions just one day apart from each other is quite an amazing coincidence. It sure makes you wonder though. I sincerely hope that terrorism hasn't made it's way to MT! I would, however recommend that NW Energy takes a good look at their aging gas lines.

[grizzfan]

MontanaFan said:

Some of my best memories were made at the Rockin' R!

And her name was?!!

You folks are missing the obvious connection here. In both towns the American Legion club/bar/lounge was destroyed. See the connection? I think we have a case of rampant revenge by recalcatrant VFW renegades afoot here. It's time for Governor Schweitzer to call out the National Guard before this gets totally out of hand. Which AL Post will be next?!

[northridge radio]

Last thing I read on the Bozeman incident was that National Guard is in Bozeman securing the scene.
KBZK Montana" News Station:Montana's News Station - Fair. Accurate. To the Point. -KBZK - Bozeman - Home (http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/global/category.asp?c=50432 - broken link)
One person is still missing after an explosion shook downtown Bozeman early Thursday morning, destroying several businesses and prompting the shutdown of a portion of the city's downtown.

The explosion occurred at about 8:15 a.m. in the 200 block of Main Street. Crews have allowed the fire to burn into the afternoon because they could not completely shut off natural gas. Several businesses were destroyed including Boodles restaurant, the Rocking R Bar, Pickle Barrel that is located in the Rocking R Bar, Montana Trails Gallery, the American Legion building and Lilly Lu's children's store.

Crews had planned to have natural gas shut off to the area by Thursday evening but suffered a setback after they found gas was being fed from another direction, assistant city manager Chuck Winn said at an 8 p.m. news conference at city hall. Winn said crews now hope to have the gas shut off to the area by 11 p.m. or midnight.

Once gas is shut off, crews can search for a woman who is still unaccounted for, Winn said.

So far, no injuries have been reported, Winn said.

In addition to local emergency crews, the National Guard has been called in to secure the perimeter surrounding the closed off area, which extends from Tracy to Rouse and Babcock to Mendenhall. Twenty unarmed National Guardsmen are stationed at nine checkpoints throughout town.

As of Thursday night, crews were still unable to enter the affected buildings. Winn said the city hopes to shrink the closed off area as early as Friday.

Crews are moving to east, starting at Tracy and working towards Bozeman Avenue to ensure structural stability and get businesses up and running again, Winn said.

Business owners who have been unable to enter the buildings since the explosion are being escorted block by block back into the buildings. Some buildings in the area still need to be checked for structural damage.

Crews continued to work into the night Thursday, dousing the area, which is now reduced to rubble, with water.

Bozeman's city manager has declared a local emergency for the City of Bozeman after a Thursday morning natural gas explosion shook the downtown destroying several businesses.

A press conference will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at city hall. A community meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Willson Auditorium.

Bozeman's city manager has declared a local emergency for the City of Bozeman after a Thursday morning natural gas explosion shook the downtown destroying several businesses

[northridge radio]

Has anyone heard anything further on this?

Originally Posted by northridge radio

Last thing I read on the Bozeman incident was that National Guard is in Bozeman securing the scene.
KBZK Montana" News Station:Montana's News Station - Fair. Accurate. To the Point. -KBZK - Bozeman - Home (http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/global/category.asp?c=50432 - broken link)
One person is still missing after an explosion shook downtown Bozeman early Thursday morning, destroying several businesses and prompting the shutdown of a portion of the city's downtown.

The explosion occurred at about 8:15 a.m. in the 200 block of Main Street. Crews have allowed the fire to burn into the afternoon because they could not completely shut off natural gas. Several businesses were destroyed including Boodles restaurant, the Rocking R Bar, Pickle Barrel that is located in the Rocking R Bar, Montana Trails Gallery, the American Legion building and Lilly Lu's children's store.

Crews had planned to have natural gas shut off to the area by Thursday evening but suffered a setback after they found gas was being fed from another direction, assistant city manager Chuck Winn said at an 8 p.m. news conference at city hall. Winn said crews now hope to have the gas shut off to the area by 11 p.m. or midnight.

Once gas is shut off, crews can search for a woman who is still unaccounted for, Winn said.

So far, no injuries have been reported, Winn said.

In addition to local emergency crews, the National Guard has been called in to secure the perimeter surrounding the closed off area, which extends from Tracy to Rouse and Babcock to Mendenhall. Twenty unarmed National Guardsmen are stationed at nine checkpoints throughout town.

As of Thursday night, crews were still unable to enter the affected buildings. Winn said the city hopes to shrink the closed off area as early as Friday.

Crews are moving to east, starting at Tracy and working towards Bozeman Avenue to ensure structural stability and get businesses up and running again, Winn said.

Business owners who have been unable to enter the buildings since the explosion are being escorted block by block back into the buildings. Some buildings in the area still need to be checked for structural damage.

Crews continued to work into the night Thursday, dousing the area, which is now reduced to rubble, with water.

Bozeman's city manager has declared a local emergency for the City of Bozeman after a Thursday morning natural gas explosion shook the downtown destroying several businesses.

A press conference will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at city hall. A community meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Willson Auditorium.

Bozeman's city manager has declared a local emergency for the City of Bozeman after a Thursday morning natural gas explosion shook the downtown destroying several businesses