55-gallon drum of diesel, fuel caused bonfire explosion west of Pulaski that injured up to 40 people, Shawano County Sheriff's Office says
A 55-gallon drum partially filled with diesel and fuel caused an explosion when it was thrown onto a bonfire Friday night just west of Pulaski, said Lt. Chris Madle of the Shawano County Sheriff's Office.
The bonfire explosion early Saturday at a residence in the town of Maple Grove may have injured up to 40 people, with about 17 being taken to multiple hospitals in the area, the sheriff's office said. The explosion injured many former and current Pulaski students who were celebrating as part of homecoming week.
Victims were self-transported to area hospitals or were taken by friends and family, instead of calling 911, Madle said. Shawano County learned about the bonfire explosion after hospitals contacted Brown County dispatchers about a number of people with burns showing up at hospitals.
"We can only speculate" why no one called emergency services, Madle said. He gave a couple of possible reasons: People might not have called due to stress and panic, they might have felt they could get to the hospital quicker by themselves, or they might have been afraid of getting in trouble for underage drinking.
He emphasized that he didn't want these circumstances to deter anyone from giving statements to law enforcement. While "underage drinking is a serious matter," Madle said, detectives "have assured us we will not be issuing underage citations" for the incident.
"We're trying to figure out who was there, what happened, and we don't want people to be afraid to come forward."
As for other charges, Madle said, "There was obviously careless and reckless behavior that occurred," but authorities need more information to decide whether that behavior rises to the level of criminal recklessness.
"We're hoping to talk to anybody and everybody who was there," he added, "whether they had injuries or not."
The Shawano County Sheriff's Office has scheduled a mass interview from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Pulaski Police Department, 585 E. Glenbrook Drive. Or, anyone with information should call the Shawano County Sheriff's Office at 715-526-3111.
According to several victims' GoFundMe pages, some suffered second- and third-degree burns and needed to travel to Milwaukee and Madison for treatment. The sheriff's office also stated that
Contact Rebecca Loroff at 920-907-7801 or rloroff@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RebeccaLoroff.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: 55-gallon drum of diesel fuel caused bonfire explosion west of Pulaski
