39 Years Later, Minnesota Official Shares Heart-Wrenching Story of Dying Explosion Victim

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) has released a powerful new video, included below, for Safe Digging Month. It features DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson remembering a tragic moment that forever shaped his life and career in public safety.

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In the video, Jacobson describes the morning of July 8, 1986, the day a pipeline explosion tore through a Mounds View neighborhood, killing 38-year-old Beverly Spano and her 6-year-old daughter, Jennifer.

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At the time, Jacobson was a 26-year-old officer with the New Brighton Police Department. He had been halfway through his overnight shift when he heard the call come over the radio. From two miles away, he could already see the flames.

“There had obviously been some kind of explosion. You could see the glow in the sky in those early morning hours,” Jacobson recalls. He thought it might be an airplane crash, the DPS writes, but what Jacobson saw when he arrived on Woodcrest Drive was an unimaginable disaster.

“The streets were still on fire, there were still small explosions happening, and manhole covers were still popping off,” he explains.

Jacobson says he rushed through the burning streets toward what he thought to be the source of the explosion. What he found was a severely burned Beverly Spano in a driveway.

“She had obviously been caught in the explosion and the fire, and she was very, very badly burned,” Jacobson says in the video. “And of course, those images will always stay with you.”

Despite her horrific injuries, Beverly was still alive, and she was able to speak. Jacobson knelt beside her, introduced himself as a police officer, and assured her that he would do everything he could to help.

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“So we had what turned out to be a pretty frank discussion,” Jacobson recalls. “She knew that she was dying, and so as I talked to her, I tried to comfort her as best I could, but I knew from my training and experience that there was nothing I was going to be able to do to help her.”

Beverly was in excruciating pain, and while Jacobson wished there was more he could do, all he could offer was his presence and words of comfort.

“I do recall thinking that I wish there was something I could do just to take away the pain,” he says. “And all I could do was talk to her... She was very brave.”

Jacobson says that, despite the tragedy of that day, he felt honored to have been there for Beverly in her final moments. As a rookie officer, he never imagined that experience would shape his future in public safety.

“It’s been one of the honors of a lifetime to be able to do that,” he says. “There are people that are committed to making sure that those pipelines are safe, to making sure that no one else ever is hurt in a manner such as this.”

39 years later, as the commissioner overseeing the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) today, Jacobson says the work safety officials do to prevent disasters like the one in Mounds View is of utmost importance.

“They are unsung heroes,” Jacobson is quoted in a recent DPS blog. “They work hard to keep people safe because they know the ramifications if they don’t do their jobs well — and they do their jobs well, make no mistake.”

DPS notes that while this explosion wasn’t caused by unsafe digging (a pipe seam failure led to a gas leak that ignited from the heat of a passing car), it can still serve as a reminder of the importance of safe digging practices to prevent pipeline damage.

“By remembering Beverly’s story, we can honor her and others affected by pipeline incidents,” Jacobson said. “When we do our part to dig safely, we can prevent future tragedies. I think that would make Bev proud and ensure her life wasn’t lost in vain.”

Before you dig, call 811 to have utilities marked. You can also submit a request on the Gopher State One Call website.