MANDAN, ND (KXNET) — It wasn’t just snow falling today.

A massive smoke stack, one of two at Montana-Dakota Utilities’ Heskett Station in Mandan, came crashing to the ground in a controlled demolition Tuesday.

Heskett Station smoke stack coming down through a controlled demolition (MD)

In the video from MDU, the stack to the right is brought down, thanks to precisely placed explosive charges.

R.M. Heskett Station Units 1 and 2 were coal-fired generating units for MDU. Combined, the units produced about 100 megawatts of electricity.

Heskett’s Unit 1 went online in 1954, at that time with a 25-megawatt capacity. 

In 1963, MDU installed a larger unit with a 75-megawatt capacity.

In February 2022, MDU ended production of coal-powered electricity at the Heskett Station.