UPDATE at 3:02pm on July 3: The Walworth County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the resident found at the explosion site was 68-year-old Leland Holden. He was taken by Flight for Life to a local trauma center. He died from his injuries.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
WALWORTH COUNTY, Wis. — A man was transported from a home in the Town of Lafayette via Flight for Life after a house fire and explosion Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, they received numerous calls for an explosion at a residence on Kulow Road at approximately 2:18 p.m. on Tuesday 7/2/24.
Elkhorn Fire Chief Trent Eichmann said firefighters rescued a man trapped near rubble in the basement.
“My crews did establish verbal contact with one person. It took them approximately 30 to 40 minutes to dig their way through to him.”
The man was then transported via Flight for Life. His condition and identity remain unknown.
After speaking with family members of the man, fire officials said they do not believe anyone else was at the residence at the time of the explosion. The fire and explosion were contained to the one home.
Chief Eichmann said the explosion could be heard and felt in neighboring communities: “I talked to a couple of different fire departments locally, and they heard the boom and felt the boom in La Grange and the Town of Lyons.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but preliminary investigation suggests that propane may have been the cause. Chief Eichmann said homes in the area rely on propane and not natural gas.
