Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Walworth County Sheriff and the Walworth County Medical Examiner’s Office.

On July 2nd, 2024, at approximately 2:18 PM, the Walworth County Communications Center received numerous calls of a structure fire and reports of an explosion at a residence located on Kulow Road in the Town of Lafayette, Walworth County, Wisconsin. [The town of Lafayette is located a few miles southeast of Abells Corners.] Walworth County Sheriff’s Deputies and the Elkhorn Fire Department were dispatched. Upon the arrival of Sheriff’s Deputies, they reported a small fire and confirmed an explosion had occurred at the residence. Deputies immediately began to search for survivors and secured the area until the arrival of fire and rescue personnel.

The only occupant of the structure was a 68-year-old male resident, Leland R. Holden, who was located in the rubble and transported by Flight for Life to a local trauma center, where he later died. The Elkhorn Fire Department is investigating the cause of the explosion with the assistance of the State Fire Marshall and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.

We would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance: The Lake Geneva Police Department, the Elkhorn Area Fire Department, Flight for Life, the Lake Geneva Fire Department, the Lyons Township Fire and Rescue Department, the LaGrange Fire Department, the East Troy Fire Department, the Town of Delavan Fire Department, the City of Delavan Fire Department, the Troy Center Fire Department, the Paris Fire Department, the Kansasville Fire Department, the City of Burlington Fire Department, the South Shore Fire Department, the Somers Fire Department, the Bristol Fire Department, the Vernon Fire Department, the Racine Fire Department, the Racine Fire Bells and the Walworth County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Editor’s note: According to ABC7, Elkhorn Fire Chief Trent Eichmann said it took 30-40 minutes to get to the victim before he was taken to the hospital. Preliminary information suggests that the incident may be a result of a propane gas explosion, Eichmann said. Since the area is rural, it is not serviced by natural gas.