Fire causes grain bin explosion

Fire-fighters were called to the facility at 10:07 a.m. Nobody was injured in
an explosion that Assistant Newburgh Fire Chief Chad Bennett said was not as bad
as it could have been.

Mechanical problem
Bennett said grain
dust is very volatile and highly explosive.
He said fire-fighters believe a
mechanical problem caused a conveyor belt to seize up, causing a small fire
which in turn triggered an explosion of grain dust. The explosion may have
snuffed out the fire, he said, but fire-fighters used a ladder truck to hose
down the inside of the grain bin in case any hot spots remained.
Farm trucks
waiting to drop off loads of grain were sitting along the road, he
said.

One problem the fire-fighters encountered was the ladder on the
Newburgh truck was only 75 feet tall and the grain bin is 110 feet high, Bennett
said. Fire-fighters climbed to the top and used ropes to hoist the hose the rest
of the way up.

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