In a press release, the Pine County Sheriff's Office said nothing criminal is expected, and no injuries were reported.

WILLOW RIVER, Minn. — Multiple homes were asked to evacuate after an explosion involving a large natural gas line on Friday afternoon, west of Willow River.

The Pine County Sheriff's Office said it received calls about the explosion just before 1:45 p.m. Several agencies responded and determined that a gas line was involved. The sheriff's office asked residents in multiple nearby homes to evacuate.

In a press release, sheriff's officials said nothing criminal is expected, and no injuries were reported.

Speaking to Northern News Now, an NBC affiliate out of Duluth, Pine County Sheriff Jeff Nelson said the gas had been turned off and that there was no ongoing danger to people. 

"Right now, we're kind of triaging and what to do with the people that might be out of gas and heat for an unknown period of time," Nelson said. "It's my understanding there shouldn't be a whole lot of interruption in the gas flow to the people in Willow River or in the rural areas that are affected."

According to Minnesota Energy Resources, most customers now have access to temporary service.

"Temporary service has been restored to nearly all customers after damage to a Northern Natural Gas (NNG) interstate pipeline, which supplies Minnesota Energy Resources," according to a release from the company.

Neither the sheriff nor Minnesota Energy Resources had information about what may have caused the explosion at this time.

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