Sheldon, Iowa — Another overnight explosion at Sheldon’s Kent Feed Mill was reported in the early hours of Thursday, October 1st. The news comes on the heels of an explosion there a week and a half ago on Monday, September 21st.
Sheldon Fire Company Chief Brad Hindt reports that fire crews were paged to the facility on Sheldon’s west side at about 12:30 a.m. for the report of an explosion with no visible fire.
He says when fire crews arrived, they met with employees on site and assessed the situation. At that time, O’Brien County EMA arrived on scene and deployed their drone to check the building for signs of damage and fire. Hindt says nothing was found during that inspection, and itt was decided to leave the building sit awhile.
He says that at 1:00 a.m., two groups of firefighters entered the building; one group of firefighters went to the southeast door and the second group of firefighters went to the north side of the building to investigate. Firefighters found smoke in the building as well as flames coming from the cooler. At that time, Sheldon Fire requested assistance with manpower from the Sanborn Fire Department and the Sheldon Community Ambulance Team.
Hindt says at about 1:15 a.m., crews made entry into the building. One crew of firefighters made entry into the building to the second floor and had active flames coming out of the door of the cooler. Once the flames were under control, Hindt says a second crew, along with Kent employees, cut a hole in the bottom leg of the cooler on the main floor. A coordinated operation of removing the product began and took about 3 hours to get the product outside and get the hotspots were watered down.
The chief tells us the cause of the explosion and fire is currently under investigation. He says that the damage was contained to the cooler and product. No injuries were reported; 26 firefighters responded to the incident; and they used about 4000 gallons of water.
In addition to the agencies already mentioned, the Sheldon Police Department and both the O’Brien and Sioux County Sheriff’s Offices assisted on the scene.
Hindt says the Sheldon Fire Company was back in service at 6:00 a.m.
