Verizon Wireless and a Kansas-based construction company said Thursday that they were responsible, through an as-yet-unnamed subcontractor, for work being done at the site of a massive natural gas explosion Tuesday that rocked Sun Prairie’s downtown, killing a volunteer firefighter and critically injuring another.
Sun Prairie firefighter Ryan Welch was released from a hospital Thursday and brought to Fire Station 1, a block from the blast site, by a procession of emergency vehicles that were greeted by dozens of residents who cheered Welch into the station. “His face is burned, his jaw is broken in several places, he lost teeth, his hands are injured. A building fell on him, but he was up walking (with help) the next day,” according to a GoFundMe page launched Thursday to provide him support.