Date: January 30, 2020
Location: Grayling, Michigan (USA)
Address: 5851 Arauco Road, 49738
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Wood Dust
Industry: Particleboard Manufacturing
Equipment: Unknown
Company: ARAUCO
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company’s website, ARAUCO is a wood products manufacturer headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It has locations across the globe and specializes in sustainable solutions like composite panels, premium plywood, millwork, bioenergy, lumber and wood pulp. In April 2019, ARAUCO opened its 820,000-sq-ft particleboard plant in Grayling to produce wood panel products for furniture and home interior applications.
Incident Description:
On January 31, 2020, Powder & Bulk Solids reported an explosion and fire at a particleboard plant in Grayling, Michigan.
A video published by a Facebook user showed security camera footage of the explosion occurring while UpNorthLive released a video showing smoke billowing from the plant. Fire crews reached the site at around 10:00 a.m. and extinguished the flames within 10 minutes, but remained on scene for two hours.
Local reports suggest that the explosion started in the exhaust air from the processing operation. No one was injured and all personnel were accounted for, although one firefighter was taken to the hospital to be treated for exertion.
OSHA Inspections:
An establishment search turned up six OSHA inspections for ARAUCO in Grayling, Michigan, but none were flagged for combustible dust.
