Posted on 10/01/2003 12:37:35 PM PDT by bedolido
Silo Explosion at Western Ohio Lumber Company Kills Two Firefighters, Injures Others NEW KNOXVILLE, Ohio Oct. 1 — An explosion inside a silo at a lumber company in western Ohio killed two firefighters and injured at least five others Wednesday, authorities said. An unknown number of employees also were injured.
The explosion happened about two hours after firefighters were called about a fire in the concrete silo at Hoge Lumber Co.
New Bremen firefighter Kenneth Jutte was killed, said Auglaize County Coroner Dr. Thomas Freytag.
Jutte was one of two firefighters atop the 70-foot tall silo, Freytag said. A firefighter in an aerial bucket was thrown to the ground.
A second firefighter died at St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima, said hospital spokeswoman Brenda Burgy. She did not know the firefighter's name or department.
"It sounded like somebody had dropped a boulder or something on our home," said Nancy Buscher, 51, who lives a couple of houses away.
The blast blew off the top of the silo, hurling chunks of concrete across the road into a cemetery about 100 yards away.
Buscher, a nurse, said she helped treat two employees who were injured. One was cut on the back by flying concrete.
New Knoxville Fire Chief Scott Schroer did not know the extent of the other injuries. In total, 11 people were taken to hospitals, he said.
Two other firefighters were taken by helicopter to St. Rita's.
Seven people were taken to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, said hospital spokeswoman Carrie Widman. One was later flown to St. Rita's, she said.
Schroer said firefighters were hosing down dust in the silo to avoid an explosion when it blew up.
"What we had here was a dust silo that feeds the boiler for the lumber company," he said. "They've had fires in these before."
Wallace Watt, 84, who lives next door to the lumber company, said smoke poured from the silo after the explosion.
"It was rolling out like a white cloud," he said.
Clark Froning, a co-owner of Hoge Lumber, said the silo was filled with wood shavings and sawdust. He would not talk about what caused the explosion.
The company's buildings sit on the edge of New Knoxville, a village of about 900 people and 50 miles north of Dayton.
Fire departments from New Knoxville, New Bremen, Wapakoneta and St. Marys Township responded.
New Bremen fire Chief Bob Kuck said some other of his firefighters were hurt, but he did not know how badly.
The family-owned lumber company touts itself as the world's largest maker of wood bowling lanes and has been in business since 1904. It also makes cabinetry and building supplies.
It recycles wood chips and other byproducts that are fed into its generator that supplies power to the plant and all of the village, which has about 900 residents.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Wild stuff, that. Either:
I never understood it: What is it about dust suspended in air that makes it explosive? Particularly when the stuff out of which the dust particles are made is not itself explosive? We had a couple of big grain elevators explode in the Midwest when I was a kid, again because of dust.
The deal is, the dust is highly combustible, and it's surrounded by air. If you get enough dust and expose it to an ignition source, the combustion will quickly spread.
I had a HS teacher who used to simulate these explosions with a paint can, flame, and a handful of flour. He'd light the flame, put the lid on the can, and quickly blow through a hose to put the flour into the flames. The top of the can would blow off with a satisfying BANG and a huge ball of flame. It was way cool.
Next time you're barbequeing try this: get some flour and blow it into the flames, and you'll probably get a good-sized reaction.
And singed eyebrows!
Merely an added reinforcement to the lesson.... ;-)
But what the heck -- for you, I'll allow tossing it in, from a safe distance.
Sorta the same topic -- my dad was on an avgas tanker in WWII. He said that things were by far the most dangerous when the tanks were fully or partially empty, because the fumes were so much more flammable than the liquid.
Same basic dynamic....
Welcome to Free Republic! I thought I was holding down NW Ohio all by myself. :-)
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FReegards,
Tony
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