Published Wednesday, July 30, 1997

Hibbing teen dies after NSP tower toppled; vandalism suspected

Susan E. Peterson / Star Tribune

A teenager from Hibbing, Minn., was killed and another was injured when a major Northern States Power Co. transmission tower was toppled by vandals Tuesday afternoon.

Capt. Duane Gielen of the Hibbing Police Department said a 17-year-old boy from Hibbing was injured and taken to University Medical Center Mesabi.

According to local news media, an 18-year-old man from Hibbing was killed. No names were released pending notification of relatives.

Hibbing police said they had no information about whether the two teenagers were connected to the tower vandalism. The incident was reported to police at 3:01 p.m. in a 911 call, which police said they believe came from the injured teen.

A nursing supervisor at University Medical Center said that the injured boy was treated and released, but that she could not comment on the nature of his injuries.

NSP spokeswoman Mary Heimstead said a tower supporting a 500-megavolt power line from Manitoba Hydro to the Twin Cities area fell when vandals removed aluminum latticework from it.

The power line is NSP's largest-capacity line to the Twin Cities, but no service disruption occurred because the utility immediately began buying replacement power from other suppliers, Heimstead said. She said that NSP won't know until Wednesday how long the line will be out of commission, but that customer service is not expected to be affected.

The power failure may mean higher bills for consumers, but that will depend on how much NSP has to spend for replacement power and how long the line is out. NSP also has been coping with storm damage that knocked out two major lines in the Monticello area. One of them is expected to be back in operation by Friday, but the other will be out until September.

The tower downed Tuesday is along Power Road near Day Lake Road in the northwest corner of Hibbing, inside the city limits but in a rural area.

Staff writer Larry Oakes contributed to this report.