Date: November 1, 2018
Location: St. Joseph, Missouri (USA)
Address: 2811 S. 11th Street, 64503
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Grain Dust
Industry: Ethanol Production
Equipment: Grain Dryer
Company: ICM Biofuels
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company website, ICM Biofuels, LLC operates out of a 50-MGY (million gallons per year) ethanol production facility, located in St. Joseph, Missouri. The plant was built in 2006 and commenced production in October 2007 to process starch from Lifeline Foods. In 2014, ICM Biofuels started managing the ethanol production portion of the Lifeline Foods facility. Today it has 44 full-time employees and produces ethanol, both wet and dry distillers grains and corn oil.
Incident Description:
On November 1, 2018, local news portal News-Press Now reported an explosion at an industrial facility in St. Joseph, Missouri. According to KQ2, the explosion took place inside a dryer. Fire crews shut down a segment of the street outside for several hours while they investigated the incident.
An inspector with the St. Joseph Fire Department said employees “felt it in the building” but there were no injuries because no one was in the vicinity of the explosion, which took place shortly before 6:00 a.m. Some equipment was damaged and will have to be taken apart.
The cause of the explosion and the amount of damage remains under investigation. Company officials referred to the incident as a “small fire” and said that the facility operations resumed later in the day.
Sources:
News-Press Now
KQ2
