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Nov 11, 2005 8:34 pm US/Central
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Man Dies In Wind Tower Fire
Slayton, Minn. (AP) ―
A South Dakota man died and two people were injured Friday in a wind tower fire in southwestern Minnesota.
The Murray County sheriff's office received a call just before 10 a.m. reporting the fire at a wind tower east of Chandler, Minn., and that one person had fallen.
Benjamin James Thovson, 26, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died at the scene. He fell about 210 feet, Deputy Randy Donahue said. The other two were able to climb down and escape, but were taken to a local hospital.
When help arrived, Donahue said, "the wind generator was engulfed in flames."
The tower is owned by Dean DeGreeff, of Chandler, who is part of an eight-person private ownership group called East Ridge Wind Farm.
The three people on the tower Friday worked for Energy Maintenance Service LLC, based in Gary, S.D. They were installing a Suzlon Wind Energy Corp. wind turbine, the companies said in a statement.
According to at least one report, they were replacing a bolt when the fire started The Daily Globe of Worthington said. Donahue told the newspaper the fire resulted from the crew's work.
Energy Maintenance Service and Suzlon said they were cooperating with federal, state and local authorities in the investigation
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)