Date: October 31, 2020
Location: Superior, Nebraska (USA)
Address: 2201 E. First Street, 68978
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Grain Dust
Industry: Grain Processing (Agriculture)
Equipment: Grain Elevator
Company: Aurora Co-op
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: Three Injured
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to its website, Aurora Co-op is an agricultural cooperative founded in 1908. It is headquartered in Aurora, Nebraska and has over 80 locations across several states.
Incident Description:
On November 1, 2020, NTV reported an explosion at an agricultural cooperative in Superior, Nebraska.
The Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call of the explosion at around 4:15 p.m. Local fire departments and co-op personnel worked overnight and most of the day Sunday hauling water to the scene in tanker trucks. Highway 8 was temporarily closed down during the firefighting efforts but opened back up later.
Fire crews were on scene for over 24 hours. However, the Hastings Tribune reported that the following day, they were called back at about 5:17 a.m. to deal with some flare-ups.
Three people were injured and required hospital treatment.
An investigator for the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office concluded that the incident originated in the grease and grain shaft between the bearing and the north side of the head bonnet at the top of the south elevator leg, which led to other explosions. The heat for ignition was from the failure of the bearing on the north side of the head pulley of the south leg of the elevator.
Sources:
NTV
Hastings Tribune
