While cruising through the MSNBC site to check up on the state of the world, I saw this: “Workers still missing after grain elevator blast.” Now, I don't know a thing about Atchison, Kansas beyond the song “The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” but I am familiar with grain elevators in a town. Before the article could load on my computer, I knew what this was about.
Many of us have little knowledge of things like grain elevators and mills. Even if we bake our own bread, there can't be more than a precious few who mill their own flour. There is one thing that milling and mining have in common: dust. It is a scourge and an unbelievable hazard to people in those occupations.
In 1975, there was an explosion in my area at the International Milling (International Multi-Grain) site in Davenport, Iowa. A few years prior to that, my dad had done some work putting roof-coating on the tops of the gargantuan grain bins. When a couple of them blew up, we were tuned in like lasers – our dad could have been blown to kingdom come!
There were four explosions in all, witnesses said.
Scott county Sheriff Kenneth Paulsen said the two missing persons may have been blown out of the plant and into the nearby Mississippi River.
Searchers were checking the rubble and the river for the missing.
The explosion was felt across the river in Rock Island and Moline, Ill.
Cedar Rapids Gazette Iowa 1975-05-23
That tragedy could have been so much worse. The explosion in Kansas provides an example.
Crews temporarily suspended their search Sunday for three people missing since an explosion at a Kansas grain elevator that killed three workers and left two critically injured with severe burns.
snip
The explosion blew off a chunk of a grain distribution building that sits directly above the elevator, and Cocking said officials were fearful the building could fall on top of rescue crews amid the search.
snip
"It was extremely loud. It was kind of like to me a double whomp — a bomp bomp. It reverberated, and kind of echoed down through the valley. ... kind of like a shock wave," he said. "Everybody came outside. Neighbors were trying to figure out what was going on. It was quite a thump."
(I can't quote more without getting into copyright trouble, but the article is not too long and worth a read.)
Dust isn't the only danger when working at grain facility. Although explosions are huge hazard at grain terminals, the leading cause of death in these facilities is suffocation. If a worker is caught in cascading grain, it's like being smothered in sand. All in all, this is/can be a dangerous job.
I don't have special expertise in this area. The news just caught my eye and triggered some memories. I'm sending prayers and positive thoughts out for the victims, the missing, and their families. They all knew the risks of the job, but I'm sure they never expected it to hit home. I'll think about this the next time I have a sandwich or a snack cracker. Our food sometimes comes with a high price, indeed.