Food truck explodes in Lakeville neighborhood, damaging homes

A food truck exploded in a residential neighborhood in Lakeville late Friday, damaging homes and leaving the area strewn with twisted metal and insulation.

On Saturday morning, investigators from were still on the scene, picking through the wreckage. John Kornmann, deputy police chief of the Lakeville department, said up to 20 homes were damaged and two injuries have been reported. One of them is considered "hearing related."

Police suspect the blast was related to a propane tank on a Motley Crews Heavy Metal Grill food truck parked in the driveway of a house on the 16500 block of Joplin Path.

The deputy chief said that the state fire marshal is on the scene and that Lakeville police received more than 80 phone calls regarding the blast, which Kornmann said some reported hearing as far away as Farmington.

The blast left wood, metal and insulation across a wide area of the neighborhood, with some insulation in trees and resting several hundred yards from where the truck was.

On Friday night, police initially responded to the scene around 11:30 p.m. after a loud boom erupted on the block.

Star Tribune photographer David Joles contributed to this report.