Two people sustained serious injuries in a structure fire that followed an explosion Tuesday night in Silver Township, near Moose Lake.
The initial report to Carlton County dispatch around 8:53 p.m. indicated that a 75-year-old woman had been injured and a second victim, a 52-year-old woman, was trapped in a basement at 4080 Korhonen Road, according to a news release from the Carlton County Sheriff's Office.
The 52-year-old was able to escape the basement before the Kettle River Fire Department arrived. The two victims are related and were transported to Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake by ambulance. They were later airlifted to Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth.
The condition of the victims was unknown as of Monday morning and their names are not being released, the release said.
The 52-year-old victim reported that the residence exploded when she turned on the furnace. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Fire Marshal's Office.
