{"id":16055,"date":"2026-02-01T17:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=16055"},"modified":"2026-02-01T17:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:14:34","slug":"hermantown-sixplex-blast-kills-two-at-green-acres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/hermantown-sixplex-blast-kills-two-at-green-acres\/","title":{"rendered":"Hermantown Sixplex Blast Kills Two at Green Acres"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Hermantown, St. Louis County<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 An explosion and fire hit the Green Acres area on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<p>Two residents died, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said the blast struck a six-unit building at 5064 Jennifer Circle around 6:21 p.m. Saturday. Fire and smoke followed within moments.<\/p>\n<p>First crews arrived within minutes and began evacuations. The fire was later contained to the building that exploded.<\/p>\n<h2>Victims identified<\/h2>\n<p>The two people who died were identified as 89-year-old Gayle Nelson and 88-year-old Joan Wisneski. Both were residents of the building.<\/p>\n<p>No other injuries were reported as of Sunday. Officials continued to account for residents during the night.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16059\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16059\" style=\"width: 357px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-16059\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hermantown-Sixplex-Blast-Kills-Two-at-Green-Acres-300x200.png\" alt=\"Hermantown Sixplex Blast Kills Two at Green Acres\" width=\"357\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hermantown-Sixplex-Blast-Kills-Two-at-Green-Acres-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hermantown-Sixplex-Blast-Kills-Two-at-Green-Acres-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hermantown-Sixplex-Blast-Kills-Two-at-Green-Acres-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Hermantown-Sixplex-Blast-Kills-Two-at-Green-Acres.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16059\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hermantown Sixplex Blast Kills Two at Green Acres<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Large emergency response<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/hermantownmn.com\/departments\/fire\/\">Hermantown Fire Department<\/a> led fire suppression and rescue work. Mutual aid was requested early due to heavy flames.<\/p>\n<p>Assisting agencies included units from Duluth and Proctor. The Minnesota Air National Guard also sent fire crews from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.148fw.ang.af.mil\/\">148th Fighter Wing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>City public works crews helped with access and water support. Additional volunteer departments also assisted at the scene.<\/p>\n<h2>Evacuations and shelter<\/h2>\n<p>City officials issued an evacuation notice for residents in the Green Acres complex. Many people were left with only essentials.<\/p>\n<p>Hermantown City Hall opened for temporary shelter and reunification. Some residents were allowed back around midnight.<\/p>\n<p>Others could not return due to damage and safety concerns. They were directed to short-term housing options.<\/p>\n<h2>Damage beyond the building<\/h2>\n<p>Officials said the explosion damaged nearby buildings. Crews also reported broken windows and debris across the area.<\/p>\n<p>The affected sixplex suffered severe structural damage. Firefighters remained on scene to secure hotspots and hazards.<\/p>\n<h2>Investigation continues<\/h2>\n<p>The cause of the explosion has not been released. The <a href=\"https:\/\/dps.mn.gov\/divisions\/sfm\">Minnesota State Fire Marshal<\/a> is investigating the scene.<\/p>\n<p>Residents were asked to avoid the area during cleanup. Drivers were also urged to follow road closures and detours.<\/p>\n<h2>Help for displaced residents<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stlouiscountymn.gov\/departments-a-z\/sheriff\/emergency-support-services\/emergency-management\">St. Louis County Emergency Management<\/a> helped coordinate support services for those displaced.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redcross.org\/local\/mn-nd-sd\/get-help.html\">American Red Cross<\/a> also provided assistance and housing guidance. People needing help can call the Red Cross at 1-800-RED CROSS.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hermantown, St. Louis County (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 An explosion and fire hit the Green Acres area on Saturday night. Two residents died, according to officials. Officials said the blast struck a six-unit building at 5064 Jennifer Circle around 6:21 p.m. Saturday. Fire and smoke followed within moments. First crews arrived within minutes and began evacuations. The&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/hermantown-sixplex-blast-kills-two-at-green-acres\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Hermantown Sixplex Blast Kills Two at Green Acres<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[14],"tags":[4944,12122,2478,12123,2737,11971,8544,11970,11976,12124,2793,12120,842,682,12119,12126,12121,12125,2005,790],"class_list":["post-16055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa-news","tag-acres","tag-apartment-fire","tag-blast","tag-gayle-nelson","tag-green","tag-green-acres-townhomes","tag-hermantown","tag-hermantown-explosion","tag-jennifer-circle","tag-joan-wisneski","tag-kills","tag-minnesota-explosion","tag-minnesota-state-fire-marshal","tag-news","tag-pdate-two-die-in-hermantown","tag-sixplex","tag-sixplex-explosion","tag-st-louis-county-mn","tag-two","tag-usa","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16061,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16055\/revisions\/16061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}