DSS 137: Case Study - The Murray Grain Elevator Explosion of 1919

In today’s episode, we’re covering a case study: the Murray Grain Elevator Explosion of 1919. Every so often, we do these studies to take a closer look at a specific combustible dust explosion and examine its impact and lessons learned. Past subjects include grain dust explosions, nylon flock, sawdust, metal dust and fishmeal factories.

The Murray Grain Elevator was the fourth in a series of four North American grain dust explosions that occurred between May 20 and September 13, 1919, killing over 70 people, injuring 60 more and causing $650,000 worth of property damage The other three disasters- the Milwaukee Works, Port Colborne and Douglas Starch Works explosions- have been well outlined in regional histories, but the Murray Grain Elevator incident has largely been forgotten until now.

In 1919, Four North American Grain Elevators Exploded, Killing Over 70 People and Injuring 60 More.

The elevator itself was a large structure owned by the Federal Grain Company. It was built in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1905 and located at the north end of the Armour-Swift-Burlington Bridge. The terminal itself was constructed entirely of concrete, tile and steel and had a 1.5 million bushel capacity.

On September 5th, 1919, (eight days before the fatal explosion) J.O. Reed, an inspector for the U.S. Grain Corporation, inspected the Murray Grain Elevator and was horrified to see combustible grain dust piled up everywhere, along with potential ignition sources like hot bearings, worn extension cords, and unprotected electric light bulbs.

Worried about what could happen, Reed ordered a temporary halt to operations and called everyone into the engine room, where he picked up a pile of waste, dipped it in oil and lit it. After dropping the burning waste on the floor, he shook a dusty sack over it, producing a small explosion and flash fire.

Unfortunately, management did nothing until the elevator failed a follow-up inspection a few days later. On September 13, cleaning work began, but by then it was too late.

By the Time Elevator Management Addressed the Dust Hazard, It Was Too Late.

That afternoon, a maintenance man noticed blue flames shooting out of electric light wires while he was cleaning one of the grain elevator boots. Before he could react, an explosion occurred, blowing out sections of the main building’s walls and roof, and damaging the grain tanks on the west side of the property. There were around 40 men in the elevator at the time: fourteen were killed and 10 more were seriously injured.

The explosion investigation team consisted of three experts:

J.O. Reed, the investigator whose warnings were not heeded before the incident.
Dr. J.D. Price, who was an engineer in charge of the Bureau of Chemistry in the Department of Agriculture. Price was also the director of the campaign to eliminate dust explosions in mills and elevators.
Vernon Fitzsimmons, who headed the government’s anti-dust explosion campaign in North Western District.

All three belonged to groups put together in the mid-1910s to address the issue of combustible dust in different types of facilities. Dust isn’t a new problem: we’ve been trying to tackle these challenges for well over 100 years- maybe even longer.

A couple of things came out of the investigation:

The elevator was believed to be fireproof, so no fire safety resources were at hand. The nearest hydrant was over 8,000 feet away, and this really hindered the firefighting efforts.
The explosion originated in the basement area, propagated up through the man lift tower on the side of the elevator and blew out the walls with aggressive force.

Although the Explosion Appeared to Be a Process Safety Issue, Workers Were Blamed.

Although the maintenance worker repeated his story of seeing blue flames coming out of the electric light wires, allegations were also made that someone lit a cigarette in the basement area. We see this time and time again: blaming an incident on a worker’s behaviour when it was probably something in the processing operation.

In this case, the lights were not set up to be ignition-proof, but the smoking claim shifted the investigation toward worker misconduct, instead of looking at the systems in the process in place.

Despite this setback, the Murray Grain Elevator explosion did result in safety improvements. There was also renewed activity among fire underwriters and insurance professionals who had considered fireproofing to be sufficient protection for grain elevators. Now, they were re-inspecting facilities for dust explosion hazards. Elevator managers were more accommodating to inspectors and even encouraged advice on ways they could make their facilities safer.

The Murray Grain Elevator Explosion represents a cycle we see even today. A large-scale explosion occurs and everyone pays attention. Then it’s forgotten until the next disaster. It happened with the Imperial Sugar explosion, which was investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Is that diligence now dropping away?

Conclusion

All deflagrations need to be taken seriously, even if they don’t cause injury, death, or property damage. In many cases, they are the precursor to a larger and more devastating incident. Don’t let labels like ‘fireproof’ create complacency: if an explosion happens, the necessary safeguards may not be in place, with tragic results.

If you have questions about the contents of this or any other podcast episode, you can go to our ‘Questions from the Community’ page and submit a text message or video recording. We will then bring someone on to answer these questions in a future episode.