Fire damages Idaho grain elevator May 14, 2013 - by Laura Lloyd
CRAIGMONT, ID. — Insurance adjusters were headed to the smoldering aftermath of a major May 12 fire at a chick pea storage facility owned by Hinrichs Trading and three adjoining elevators owned by Columbia Grain that held a variety of crops ranging from peas and lentils to barley.
The report by insurers will help nail down the cause, the price tag — expected to be in the millions of dollars — and the time frame required to rebuild from the ground up. Until then, the owners will have to figure out how to compensate for the loss of a combined storage capacity of 700,000 bus, although neither facility was full when the fire started.
Max Hinrichs, vice-president of Hinrichs Trading, Pullman, Wash., said the buildings, located in a remote part of the small Idaho town of Craigmont, had probably been burning for a few hours before being discovered. He said his fourth-generation family business specializes in growing and selling chick peas (also called garbanzo beans) and is the largest chickpea-only company of its kind in the United States. The cause of the fire was unknown, he said, but he noted that garbanzo beans are not known for being particularly combustible when stored.
He said a railroad track separated his storage elevator and warehouse from the three Columbia Grain elevators, and the fact that the fire managed to spread across the tracks attested to its force. No one was hurt, but destruction of the Hinrichs elevator and adjoining warehouse and Columbia Grain elevators was assumed to be total.
Mr. Hinrichs said he foresaw little disruption to his business because the company has storage facilities in Pullman that could be utilized to hold the chick peas that normally would have been stored in Craigmont.
Randy Olstad, a regional manager for Columbia Grain, a subsidiary of Marubeni, Japan, with assets throughout the Northwest United States, said he could not comment on either the likely cause or the cost to rebuild the three cribbed elevators until after insurance professionals assessed the situation. He said the elevators and their contents remained in a smoky, smoldering state two days after the fire began.
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AUGUST 29, 2016
WILSON, NC
Firefighters
battle blaze in Wilson grain elevator at 1711 Hwy 301 Wilson, NC 27893.
The grain storage facility belongs to the Southeastern Grain Company.
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Welcome to Southeastern Grain Company
Southeastern
Grain Company, LLC (SGC) is a rapidly evolving feed ingredient based
enterprise in North and South Carolina. SGC is young in years but old at
heart. Our experience and facilities span generations and we will
continue to serve the coming generations in agriculture. We originate
local grain and oilseeds from producers into ten strategically located
SGC granaries and numerous outside feed manufactures and processors.
This network ensures our customers efficiency when it comes to drying or
receiving grain. A key to our success is the passion each employee
shares for the agricultural communities they serve and respecting the
hard work put into producing the grain we handle.
We value our
long term relationships and are committed to investing in the
communities in which we operate. Superior service and flexibility
combined with excellent marketing tools and a drive to differentiate
ourselves within the industry enables us to seek maximum profit for our
producers. SGC facilities offer a tremendous value in risk management
and navigating the local and global volatile agricultural markets.
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What are grain handling facilities?
Grain handling facilities are facilities that may receive, handle,
store, process and ship bulk raw agricultural commodities such as (but
not limited to) corn, wheat, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, and
soybeans. Grain handling facilities include grain elevators, feed
mills, flour mills, rice mills, dust pelletizing plants, dry corn mills,
facilities with soybean flaking operations, and facilities with dry
grinding operations of soycake.
What are the hazards in grain handling facilities?
The grain handling industry is a high hazard industry where workers
can be exposed to numerous serious and life threatening hazards. These
hazards include: fires and explosions from grain dust accumulation,
suffocation from engulfment and entrapment in grain bins, falls from
heights and crushing injuries and amputations from grain handling
equipment.
Suffocation is a leading cause of death in grain storage bins. In
2010, 51 workers were engulfed by grain stored in bins, and 26 died-the
highest number on record, according to a report issued by Purdue University
(PDF) Suffocation can occur when a worker becomes buried (engulfed) by
grain as they walk on moving grain or attempt to clear grain built up
on the inside of a bin. Moving grain acts like "quicksand" and can bury a
worker in seconds. "Bridged" grain and vertical piles of stored grain
can also collapse unexpectedly if a worker stands on or near it. The
behavior and weight of the grain make it extremely difficult for a
worker to get out of it without assistance. OSHA has sent notification letters
to approximately 13,000 grain elevator operators warning the employers
to not allow workers to enter grain storage facilities without proper
equipment, precautions (such as turning off and locking/tagging out all
equipment used so that the grain is no being emptied or moving into the
bin) and training.
Grain dust explosions
are often severe, involving loss of life and substantial property
damage. Over the last 35 years, there have been over 500 explosions in
grain handling facilities across the United States, which have killed
more than 180 people and injured more than 675. Grain dust is the main
source of fuel for explosions in grain handling. Grain dust is highly
combustible and can burn or explode if enough becomes airborne or
accumulates on a surface and finds an ignition source (such as hot
bearing, overheated motor, misaligned conveyor belt, welding, cutting,
and brazing). OSHA standards require that both grain dust and ignition
sources must be controlled in grain elevators to prevent these often
deadly explosions.
Falls from height can occur from many walking/working surfaces
throughout a grain handling facility. Examples of such surfaces include
(but are not limited to) floors, machinery, structures, roofs,
skylights, unguarded holes, wall and floor openings, ladders, unguarded
catwalks, platforms and manlifts. Falls can also occur as workers move
from the vertical exterior ladders on grain bins to the bin roof or
through a bin entrance.
Mechanical equipment within grain storage structures, such as augers
and conveyors, present serious entanglement and amputation hazards.
Workers can easily get their limbs caught in improperly guarded moving
parts of such mechanical equipment.
Storage structures can also develop hazardous atmospheres due to
gases given off from spoiling grain or fumigation. Workers may be
exposed to unhealthy levels of airborne contaminants, including molds,
chemical fumigants (toxic chemicals), and gases associated with decaying
and fermenting silage. Fumigants are commonly used for insect control
on stored grain and many have inadequate warning properties. Exposure to
fumigants may cause permanent central nervous system damage, heart and
vascular disease, and lung edema as well as cancer. These gases may
result in a worker passing out and falling into the grain, thus becoming
engulfed and suffocating or otherwise injuring themselves.
What can be done to reduce the hazards in grain handling facilities?
On August 4, 2010 and again on February 1, 2011,
OSHA issued warning letters to the grain handling industry following a
series of incidents including the recent suffocation of 2 teenagers in
Illinois grain elevator. In response to the rising number of workers
entrapped and killed in grain storage facilities, OSHA has also issued a
new fact sheet, Worker Entry Into Grain Storage Bins (PDF*)
in August 2010 for workers and employers emphasizing the hazards of
grain storage bin entry and the safe procedures that all employers must
follow. Additionally, OSHA issued a safety and health information
bulletin (SHIB) entitled, Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions, and a Hazard Alert: Combustible Dust Explosions (PDF*) fact sheet.
The control of worker's exposure to hazards in grain handling
facilities are addressed in the OSHA standard for grain handling
facilities (29 CFR 1910.272),
as well as in other general industry standards. These standards reduce
the risk to workers by requiring that employers follow established,
common sense safety practices when working in grain handling
facilities.
When workers enter storage bins, employers must (among other things):
- Turn off and lock out all powered equipment associated with the
bin, including augers used to help move the grain, so that the grain is
not being emptied or moving out or into the bin. Standing on moving
grain is deadly; the grain can act like "quicksand" and bury a worker in
seconds. Moving grain out of a bin while a worker is in the bin
creates a suction that can pull the workers into the grain in seconds.
- Prohibit walking down grain and similar practices where an employee walks on grain to make it flow.
- Provide all employees a body harness with a lifeline, or a
boatswains chair, and ensure that it is secured prior to the employee
entering the bin.
- Provide an observer stationed outside the bin or silo being entered
by an employee. Ensure the observer is equipped to provide assistance
and that their only task is to continuously track the employee in the
bin. Prohibit workers from entry into bins or silos underneath a
bridging condition, or where a build-up of grain products on the sides
could fall and bury them.
- Train all workers for the specific hazardous work operations they
are to perform when entering and working inside of grain bins.
- Test the air within a bin or silo prior to entry for the presence
of combustible and toxic gases, and to determine if there is sufficient
oxygen.
- If detected by testing, vent hazardous atmospheres to ensure that
combustible and toxic gas levels are reduced to non hazardous levels,
and that sufficient oxygen levels are maintained.
- Ensure a permit is issued for each instance a worker enters a bin or
silo, certifying that the precautions listed above have been
implemented.
To prevent dust explosions and fires, employers must (among other things):
- Develop and implement a written housekeeping program with
instructions to reduce dust accumulations on ledges, floors, equipment
and other exposed surfaces.
- Identify "priority" housekeeping areas in grain elevators. The
"priority" housekeeping areas include floor areas within 35 feet of
inside bucket elevators, floors of enclosed areas containing grinding
equipment and floors of enclosed areas containing grain dryers located
inside the facility. Dust accumulations in these priority
housekeeping areas shall not exceed 1/8th inch. Employers should make
every effort to minimize dust accumulations on exposed surfaces since
dust is the fuel for a fire or explosion, and it is recognized that a
1/8 inch dust accumulation is more than enough to fuel such occurrences.
- Inside bucket elevators can undergo primary explosions. OSHA's
grain handling standard requires that belts for these bucket elevators
purchased after March 30, 1988 are conductive and have a surface
electrical resistance not exceeding 300 megohms. Bucket elevators must
have an opening to the head pulley section and boot section to allow for
inspection, maintenance, and cleaning. Bearings must be mounted
externally to the leg casing or the employer must provide vibration,
temperature, or other monitoring of the conditions of the bearings if
the bearings are mounted inside or partially inside the leg casing.
These bucket elevators must be equipped with a motion detection device
which will shut-down the elevator when the belt speed is reduced by no
more than 20% of the normal operating speed.
- Implement a preventative maintenance program with regularly
scheduled inspections for mechanical and safety control equipment, which
may include heat producing equipment such as motors, bearings, belts
etc. Preventive maintenance is critical to controlling ignition sources.
The use of vibration detection methods, heat sensitive tape or other
heat detection methods can help in the implementation of the program.
- Minimize ignition sources through controlling hot work (electric or
gas welding, cutting, brazing or similar flame producing operations).
- Install wiring and electrical equipment suitable for hazardous locations.
- Design and properly locate dust collection systems to minimize
explosion hazards. All filter collectors installed after March 1988
shall be located outside the facility or located in an area inside the
facility protected by an explosion suppression system or located in an
area that is separated from other areas by construction having at least a
one hour fire resistance rating and which is located next to an
exterior wall vented to the outside.
- Install an effective means of removing ferrous material from grain
streams so that such material does not enter equipment such as hammer
mills, grinders and pulverizers.
For more information, see OSHA standard (29 CFR 1910.272).
Significant chapters from the report
on the explosion of the DeBruce Grain Elevator that occurred June 8,
1998 Wichita, KS. This report was submitted by the Grain Elevator
Explosion Investigation Team (GEEIT) and explains the investigation and
cause of the explosion that killed 7 and injured 10 employees.
A structural failure of the east side truss caused
the bins to collapse down three floors into the center of International
Nutrition's Omaha facility, Jan. 20, 2014. Read news release for more information.
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Local News July 19, 2016 Randall
Reports
from Unionville state the Putnam County MFA Exchange Elevator burned in
a fire today with several fire departments responding to the grain
elevator fire on South 23rd Street.
A representative from the
state Fire Marshal’s office was to be on the scene at Unionville to
begin an investigation regarding the cause of the fire.
The main structure is described as a complete loss. Smoke damage was noted to other nearby buildings.
In
a related announcement, a precautionary boil water order was issued
today for the entire town of Unionville, effective through Thursday.
The
Unionville Republican newspaper, in its edition this week, reported the
business had been undergoing construction work involving an expansion
and renovations.
KTTN would like to express appreciation to Dennie Sheehan for the photos that accompany this story. 
Photo Credit: Dennie Sheehan of Unionville
Photo Credit: Dennie Sheehan of Unionville
Photo Credit: Dennie Sheehan of Unionville
Photo Credit: Dennie Sheehan of Unionville
Fire destroys grain elevator in Unionville, investigation underway
Elizabeth Orosco | July 20, 2016
UNIONVILLE, Mo.– Early Tuesday morning, fire crews battled a blaze at the MFA Exchange & Elevator in Unionville, Missouri.
Fire
Chief Tim Montgomery told KMZU one person was taken to the hospital,
suffering only minor heat exhaustion. Investigation is still underway to
determine the cause of the fire.
The structure has been deemed a
total loss with several buildings nearby accumulating smoke damage.
Chief Montgomery says crews are working hard to clean up the damage and
more information will be released as becomes available.
WARRENTON, Ore. — Coast Guard personnel responded to an approximately 250-gallon diesel spill that left a reported 1-mile by 500-yard sheen in the water at Skipanon Marina on the Columbia River Monday. 
