The Associated Press
ELLISON BAY, Wis. — A series of explosions damaged a cottage and two other buildings in this resort community early Monday, sending seven people to hospitals, authorities said. Two people were unaccounted for.
The blasts at about 2:30 a.m. struck a grocery store, a cottage and a maintenance building with a living quarters on the Door County peninsula, which juts into Lake Michigan, said Chief Chris Hecht of the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Department.
“It was the most unbelievable thing that I have felt in my entire life,” said Tamara Little of Milwaukee, who was staying at a nearby resort cabin. “I almost ran into this big shard of glass that was sticking out of the ground.”
Hecht did not give details on the two missing people, but Little said a man who had been staying in a cabin next to hers said his brother-in-law and sister could not be found.
Charles Most, chairman of the Door County Board and the Liberty Grove Town Board, said investigators believe a propane gas leak might have triggered the explosion, though they had not yet pinpointed the cause.
Seven people were taken to hospitals, Hecht said. Five others refused treatment or sought medical help on their own.
Ellison Bay is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Green Bay. The damaged cottage was part of the Cedar Grove Resort, where Hecht said 49 people were staying.