 |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
|
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| MORE SERVICES: |
| video on demand |
| video archive |
| audio on demand |
| news email services |
| free email accounts |
| desktop headlines |
| pointcast |
| pagenet |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| SITE GUIDES: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| WEB SERVICES: |
| |
| Smoke rises above the grain elevator | |
Grain elevator fire doesn't hinder search
June 12, 1998Web posted at: 9:52 a.m. EDT (1352 GMT)
HAYSYILLE, Kansas (CNN) -- A fire broke out Friday morning at the giant DeBruce Grain elevator where rescuers are attempting to find a missing worker believed trapped in a tunnel beneath the facility following an explosion earlier in the week.
Curtis Wilson, Sedgwick County deputy division fire chief, said the fire was not in a portion of the complex where searchers were working. There were no reports of injuries from the fire and no official word on its cause.
| Grain Dust Danger |
|
Billions of tiny, highly combustible particles of grain are generated by grain kernels rubbing together as they move along conveyer belts and are shifted between bins. Inside the enclosed chambers, those particles rise in a cloud. When the dust gets in with the right mixture of oxygen and then comes in contact with a spark or another source of heat it is extremely explosive. It is similar to what happens when kernels of popcorn explode when subjected to heat. |
Grain has been smoldering at the elevator since Monday's blast, which killed at least five men.
On Friday morning, black smoke and orange flames could be seen coming from one of the 120-foot tall elevators in this town south of Wichita.
Later, the flames died down, but grain continued to smolder as faint smoke rose.
Officials said there have been several small fires at the facility since Monday's devastating explosion of grain dust which also left 11 workers injured; five remained hospitalized on Friday.
| |
| The fire began Friday | |
Wilson said searchers still were optimistic that they would find the missing worker alive in one of two tunnels beneath the elevator. "I think there's hope but as the hours go by ... time is working against us," he said.
With the search into its fifth day and no sign that the missing worker had survived the explosion, rescuers were considering whether to call it off. "There comes a time when you need to make a tough decision," Wilson said.
 | |
| related reading | book search |