One Firefighter Killed and Another Injured by Grain Silo Dust Explosion

On January 5, 2019, the Gazette reported a dust explosion at a grain processing facility in Clinton, Iowa.

According to KWQC, firefighters arrived in response to reports of a fire in a silo storage bin. As they worked to get the flames under control, an explosion killed one firefighter and injured another.

The fireman who died was 33 years old and a lieutenant in the Clinton Fire Department. According to the State Fire Marshall’s Office, he was the eighth firefighter killed in the line of duty in Iowa in the past 10 years. The Des Moines Register noted that just weeks before he was killed, he was named Chief of the Charlotte Fire Department, a role his grandfather served in for 35 years.

On January 10, the Des Moines Register reported that an additional fireman is in critical but stable condition. The company expressed sadness at this turn of events. In a public statement, it said, “They (firefighters) put their lives in danger every day, and it’s hard to express how much we appreciate their selfless help in a time of need.”

No cause for the fire and explosion has been given. On January 8, WQAD reported that OSHA was investigating the incident.