AP and staff reports

Anxious motorists in Albert Lea and across Minnesota rushed to gas stations to fill up their tanks amid fears supplies would be disrupted following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

Anxious motorists in Albert Lea and across Minnesota rushed to gas stations to fill up their tanks amid fears supplies would be disrupted following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks.

”They’re panicking,” said Bob Ritzer, who was working the night shift at the Food N Fuel station in Shakopee. The wait for an empty pump reached 15-vehicles deep.

”People are saying everything that the price could go anywhere from $3 to $5 a gallon. I even heard $7,” Ritzer said. The current price for a gallon of regular unleaded was $1.74, he said.

Gas prices remained in the $1.75-$1.80 range last night in Albert Lea amid rumors that prices as nearby as Austin and northern Iowa were reaching $5 per gallon. At least one local gas station reported that it was out of regular unleaded gasoline.

By this morning, the price at some stations in Albert Lea was around $2 for regular unleaded.

The frenzy caused havoc at the pump from Willmar to the Iron Range. Lines also were reported in Marshall, White Bear Lake, Monticello and Elk River. Reports that some St. Cloud stations had increased prices by 20 cents within hours could not be confirmed.

Throughout St. Cloud, lines blocked traffic in nearby streets and 15 to 30 minute waits for gas were the norm. Some filled gasoline containers, and at least one person tried to fill a 55 gallon drum before he was stopped by firefighters.

”They said all the oil barges were stopped,” said Josh Kujava as he waited his turn at the Holiday Station in Bemidji. Inside the store, clerk Katy Elton said her daughter told her it was already $4.80 in Duluth, but reports from there only showed prices holding steady with the rest of the state.

Word of a costly increase spread quickly at Bemidji State University, said student Jessica Knight.

”I was walking through campus and I heard, ‘Hurry up! Gas is going to be $5,”’ she said.

The gas crush has been nationwide as distribution terminals closed down for security reasons following the terrorists attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. Motorists worried there wouldn’t be enough fuel, and gasoline prices have risen steadily in parts of the Midwest.

There was even a fender bender during the gas rush in Luverne.

”I’m out of fuel on two pumps, I’ve got three left and they’re getting low,” said Dave Olson, who was working at Citgo, where prices were $1.65 per gallon.

”They’re backed up in the streets,” he said. ”They’re getting a little excited.”

Some stations in Mankato expected to run dry by late Tuesday night.

”This is chaos. This scene makes me nervous. There’s no order. They need some cops here,” said Ed Goebel, who waited for gas at the Kwik Trip near Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The line stretched three blocks at Bobby and Steve’s Auto World in Minneapolis, said Eric Heidelberger, who was working the register.

”I can’t see the end of the line,” he said.

In Topeka, Kan., a 78-year-old man was arrested for aggravated assault after he allegedly pulled a pellet gun on another customer and bumped his car into another to get to a pump.

”We got an e-mail from Oklahoma City saying gas was over $6 a gallon,” Ronda Hunter said while waiting in line for gas in western Topeka. ”The news said it was jumping to $4 a gallon. Is this madness or what?”