Date: October 29, 2020
Location: Ashton, Iowa (USA)
Address: 4970 260th Street, 51232
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Grain Dust
Industry: Ethanol Production
Equipment: Grain Dryer
Company: Poet Biorefining
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company’s website, Poet Biorefining is an ethanol production company headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It currently operates 27 bioprocessing plants with a combined annual production capacity of two billion gallons of ethanol. The Ashton location produces 56 million gallons of ethanol annually.
Incident Description:
On October 29, 2020, KIWA Radio reported a dryer fire at a biorefinery in Ashton, Iowa.
The Ashton Fire Department was called to the scene at around 8:30 a.m. and found the fire burning on top of a dryer used in the wet cake process. The Fire Chief recalled that the flames were difficult to get to, but they used a ladder truck to cool the tower down from the outside while other firefighters accessed the fire on the inside. The fire was soon put out.
According to the Fire Chief, the dryer had been shut down for a short time, which was enough to create combustible distiller’s grains. There was moderate damage to the dryer and its contents were destroyed.
No injuries were reported.
Sources:
KIWA Radio
