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| Fire and Explosion at Galva Plant -- E-MAIL US YOUR PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE |
UPDATED 1:00pm 4/14/09 Explosions at a processing plant in the early morning hours Tuesday have led three of the business' employees to receive medical attention.
Galva Fire Chief Denny Tarleton said he received a phone call of multiple explosions just after midnight Tuesday morning at the All Feed Processing and Packaging Plant at 717 W. Division Street. He said crews from the Galva Fire Department made entry on the North Side of the building to gain access to the fire which was located near the south end of the plant. He also says there was a strong smoke presence upon their arrival.
Tarleton tells WGIL dust particles may have ignited the explosions and caused the fire. "They grind a lot, do a lot of stuff for grinding," Tarelton said. "Some of it comes out into real fine powder, almost. It just creates a lot of dust. It was dust explosion from a spark, I think, is what happened."
Tarleton says firefighters in Galva and responders from Bishop Hill, LaFayette, Altona, Clover, Cambridge and Victoria were called to aid in fighting the fire before they were excused from the scene at about 6am.
Tarleton says eight employees were inside the building at the time and three were sent to Kewanee Hospital for treatment of non life threatening injuries and have since been released.
According to documents filed by OSHA, the All Feed plant was fined nearly 80 thousand dollars as recently as January for alleged serious and willful safety violations.
An investigation into the formal cause of the blaze is underway.
(WGIL News Story and Photos by Dominic Fortini.)
If you were at the scene of the fire and took pictures, we invite you to e-mail them to us by CLICKING HERE. Be sure to include your name and where you live. |
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| 04 13 09 by Newsroom |
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