BOZEMAN -- Cleanup began Wednesday at the site of a deadly explosion that rocked downtown Bozeman in March, destroying several buildings.

The cleanup is expected to take three to five weeks, Montana Ready Mix owner Greg Poncelet has said.

An engineer will be on site to make sure the surrounding buildings remain stable throughout the process and an environmental consultant will supervise the project. Crews will recycle as much of the debris as possible and business owners will have the opportunity to retrieve personal items.

Montana Ready Mix will store the bricks "so the owners can have access to them if they want to put bricks in their new buildings, or maybe put in memorials," said operations manager Dave Mize.

Business owners will also be allowed to retrieve personal items from the rubble.

The March 5 explosion killed Tara Reistad Bowman, 36, and destroyed the Montana Trails Gallery, Boodles restaurant, Lily Lu's and Tolstedt Architects. The explosion and fire also heavily damaged the Rocking R Bar, the Pickle Barrel, the American Legion and the Rocky Mountain Rug Gallery.

The explosion was blamed on a separation in a two-inch NorthWestern Energy natural gas service line between the main gas line and the meter for the Montana Trails Gallery, where Bowman worked.