Updated July 29, 2024
Date of Incident: November 21, 2017
Location: Lawson, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Address: 1st Ave, Central Butte, SK S0H 0T0
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Grain Dust
Industry: Cattle Feed Production
Equipment: Grain Elevator
Company: Central Butte Feeds, Ltd.
Previous Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: 1 Injury
Capital Cost: Unknown
Description
A grain elevator built in 1959 burned down earlier in Lawson, Sask., following a dust explosion, according to its owner, Doug Higginson. The explosion threw back one worker, sending him to the hospital in Moose Jaw for overnight treatment of burns. “We’re very fortunate that he’s going to make a full recovery, and there weren’t more serious injuries,” Mr. Higginson said.
Higginson’s company, Central Butte Feeds, operates the elevator as a storage facility in Lawson, located about 175 kilometres northwest of Regina. He believes a spark inside the facility may have caused the dust explosion.
The company did some renovations after purchasing the elevator four years earlier. Higginson said the company’s kept it clean and maintained since. The elevator had sentimental value for the surrounding community and people are saddened by its destruction. Most other towns in the area have destroyed these old grain elevators, so it was quite a site to see standing on the highway.
Central Butte Feeds, Ltd. is a cattle feed mill specializing in steam conditioned lentil screening pellets. Strategically located in an area of Canada where peas and lentils grow well, they source quality screening from local production. Central Butte Feeds serves the growing cattle industry in southern Saskatchewan as well as Alberta, Montana and North Dakota.
Related Companies: None
News Articles: Link 1
Industry Articles: Link 1
Keywords: Grain Dust, Feed Processing, Grain Elevator
