Dust explosion damages baghouse at Little Sioux Corn Processors; no major injuries

An explosion inside the grain-receiving baghouse on the south side of the railroad tracks at Little Sioux Corn Processors’ Marcus facility sent heavy smoke through the plant and produced multiple blasts, company officials said. “At approximately 4:02 p.m., an explosion occurred inside the grain receiving bag house located on the south side of the railroad tracks at our Marcus location,” Little Sioux Corn Processors President and CEO Nick Bowdish said in a company statement. Officials reported no major injuries; one truck driver received minor injuries.

Marcus Fire Department and Cherokee County emergency crews responded after initial public and dispatch calls arrived just after 4:30 p.m. A caller reported hearing two explosions, and county dispatchers described the situation as active when contacted shortly after 4:35 p.m. Assistant Marcus Fire Chief Matt Dreckman said crews found heavy smoke coming from a grain leg and the dust collector and took steps to cool the system. “When we arrived, we had heavy smoke coming out of the grain leg, and that dust collector itself had some heavy smoke coming from it. Once we were able to open some access points, cool the system down, we did not have any more open flame. It was relatively minor once we got on scene and evaluated,” Dreckman said.

The plant’s dust-collection system and baghouse were damaged. Bowdish said the company locked out equipment on the south side of the railroad tracks and that those systems will remain offline during the probe. “All of the equipment in this area south of the railroad tracks is locked out and will remain offline until we complete the investigation. The ethanol plant on the north side of the railroad tracks was not affected and remains in operation,” Bowdish added.

Cherokee County Emergency Management confirmed in a public statement that all personnel and contractors at the facility were accounted for and that the scene was under control a little more than an hour after the blast. Emergency Management later advised residents to stay clear while crews finished work; by about 5:30 p.m. the scene was described as stable and roughly an hour after that emergency responders were released and the site was turned over to plant officials for an internal investigation.

Little Sioux Corn Processors, which produces about 170 million gallons of ethanol annually and has operated in the area since 2003, said the cause of the dust explosion is unknown and under investigation. Authorities have not released estimates of damage or a timeline for restoring south-side operations, and plant officials are leading the internal review.