Oct. 6--BLUFFTON -- Officials are seeking information on an explosion at the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge building on the Upper Iowa River last month.

The Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office reported the Sept. 19 explosion destroyed the building near the intersection of Bluffton and Village roads, about 12 miles northeast of Decorah. No information about the explosion was made public when it occurred, said Kaylene Carney, information coordinator for the USGS Iowa Water Science Center.

"It's not that we were hiding anything, we didn't want to cause a panic," Carney said.

No one was injured in the explosion, which caused about $20,000 in damage to the stream gauge building. State and federal fire investigators are working on the case. No more information about the explosion was released Monday.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office at (563) 382-4268.

-----

To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.