A contractor that specializes in locating and marking underground utilities to prevent accidents failed to properly mark a natural gas line that was struck by a communications construction firm, which led to a massive explosion in downtown Sun Prairie in July that killed a fire department captain, according to a search warrant unsealed in Dane County Circuit Court.
The search warrant, filed under seal on July 27 and unsealed on Oct. 17, states that a Wisconsin-based worker for USIC, an Indiana company that has offices all over the U.S., failed to correctly mark the gas line in the street, where it was actually located, and instead marked a spot on a sidewalk about 25 feet away where there was no gas line.
The warrant was to search the public street for evidence that could support a charge of second-degree reckless homicide for the death of Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Cory Barr, who was killed July 10 when gas that poured out of a rupture in a 4-inch natural gas line was ignited.