PHOTOS: It was a quiet Saturday evening, a little past 6 p.m., and Duane and Marlys Tieszen were just sitting down in their kitchen to enjoy a snack.
âWe were sitting right at this table, and we had just gotten out a pail of ice cream and had bowls on the table,â Duane told the Mitchell Republic in a recent interview. âAnd our place started jumping. Thatâs exactly what it did.â
A series of three explosions, all in quick succession, had thundered through the community of Marion, a city of about 800 residents located approximately 45 minutes west-southwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Duane, mayor of the town at the time who also served as an emergency medical technician and firefighter, and Maryls, also an EMT, knew immediately that something had gone terribly wrong.
âI ran to the door and I could see the fire out there. I (told Marlys) 'grab your jacket, we gotta go,'â Duane recalled.
