Grain dust touched off by heat from a bearing failure is believed to have been the cause of an explosion that rocked the KAAPA ethanol plant at Aurora West last Tuesday evening. Neighbors living within a mile of the plant reported that they heard the blast which had enough force to rattle the windows of their home.
Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox said the explosion, which was on the grain elevator side of the operation, happened at about 8:45 p.m. causing what he described as “quite a bit of structural damage” to nearby grain handling equipment.
When firefighters arrived on scene they also discovered a small fire in a piece of dust collection equipment, which they were able to extinguish quickly. Cox said the explosion occurred while corn was being moved from a grain bin to an outdoor pile. However, the operation was being conducted remotely so no one was in the area at the time and there were no injuries to anyone working at the facility.
The fire department responded with 15 firefighters including an ambulance crew that was dispatched as a precautionary measure.
Cox says the State Fire Marshall’s office was called immediately and an inspector was on scene that night until fire crews were dismissed at about 10:45 p.m. On Wednesday morning the office returned to the plant bringing a fire marshal who specializes in grain bin fires.
Cox said the dust explosion was determined to have been caused by the failure of a bearing in a grain leg.
Officials of KAAPA have been contacted by ANR for comment on the incident but so far have not responded.
