Grain silo falls and fire8/18/2023 "Water was applied for approximately 10 minutes prior to the explosion, which occurred at (about) 8:45 a.m.," the report states. The supervisor "was overcome by smoke while on the catwalk several feet from the silo." He gave firefighters direction to reach the blaze before retreating, according to OSHA.Ĭain and Hosette reached an opening atop the concrete structure and began dispensing the water, while those on the ground began planning to rush more liquid through the side hatch door.Ī deadly blast boomed into the Saturday morning sky. A feed house supervisor tried to lead the men to the fire but did not have the proper respiratory protection, which is required in potentially harmful atmospheres. Hosette and Cain were tasked with delivering 50 feet of hose to the top of the burning silo and applying water there. Responders decided to fight the fire from above. "CFD was told that an explosion hazard did not exist since contractors had been applying water (to the site of the fire) for several days (before the blaze)," reads a narrative about the blaze from OSHA. A BWC foreman told firefighters that the small fire had been in the silo for 48-72 hours and that workers on site were managing it with a 1 1/2-inch hose. Firefighters were told the silo was filled with a " germ product" of a "slurry-type consistency," instead of the gluten feed pellets investigators learned about later, according to the report.įirefighters asked to use a side hatch door on the silo to help tamp down the blaze, but ADM officials balked, as they weren't sure of "the quality and condition" of the product in the silo. A plan to fight the fire from underneath the silo didn't work.įirefighters noticed that windows up and down the silo had been left open, possibly fanning debris that had been smoldering for days. The Clinton Fire Department arrived before 6 a.m. "BWC crew informed the IUC they were not trained to operate the hoses." "BWC attached the hose to a nearby hydrant but refused to charge the line when instructed by the (incident commander)," the report states. Hoses previously used to funnel pressurized water to break the jam were instead used to fight the fire, according to OSHA. A 911 call was made to Clinton Fire Department.ĪDM officials relayed emergency procedures throughout the campus, according to the OSHA report, as BWC workers continued to fight the intensifying blaze. that Saturday. They notified both their employer and ADM officials. By 5:45 a.m., it had grown too large to be controlled by those on-site. 'His flame is still burning': Iowa firefighter, now back at work, reflects on 88-foot fall that killed colleagueīWC workers discovered a fire in the silo about 5:30 a.m.'A brother lost': Iowa community honors a firefighter who died serving them.Firefighter killed in Clinton blast followed in grandfather's footsteps, became fire chief. "An incorrect assessment of the explosion risk and the heights of the bridged product was disseminated to municipal firefighters causing changes to their response." 2 (where the fire occured) was not shared with the incoming responders," OSHA officials said in a citation to ADM. "Pertinent information relating to the type, amount and condition of the grain contained in Silo No. In fact, ADM incident commanders told Clinton firefighters there was no chance an explosion would occur, and they provided inaccurate information about the material in the structure, OSHA reported. The two were fighting the fire “100 plus feet off the ground” when the blast occurred, Clinton City Administrator Matt Brooke told reporters in the days after.ĪDM supervisors were unsure of the contents of the silo where the fire had broken out, hindering the firefighters' ability to protect themselves and determine how best to fight the blaze, according to the seven-page OSHA report. Eric Hosette, 33, and severely injured Clinton firefighter Adam Cain, 23, on the morning of Jan. also slowed the rescue time of the injured firefighter by failing to communicate basic details about the silo, according to a report from the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Watch Video: Clinton firefighter Adam Cain returns to duty with a heavy heartĪ report from Iowa safety officials claims firefighters were told there was no explosion hazard at a grain silo just before a blast killed one and badly injured another.
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