 |  |
|
Winfred fire: Building integrity could delay investigation
| | |
By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 09/29/2009 |
| | |  | | | | | | |
Madison and Howard firefighters focus efforts on cooling this tank of Heptane solvent as fire continues to blaze inside Wax Building No. 2 at A.H. Meyer and Sons Monday.
| |
An explosion at Wax Building No. 2 took place Monday morning sending three employees to the hospital. One employee with upper body burns was transported immediately by private vehicle to the Madison Community Hospital. Lake County Deputy Tim Walburg said the employee has since been airlifted to the burn unit at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Two other employees were later taken by ambulance to the Madison Community Hospital where they were kept for observation, Walburg said. One employee was suffering from hearing loss as a result of the blast, he said, and another had been thrown against the wall.
Madison and Howard firemen responded to control the fire.
Madison Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined and the State Fire Marshall is expected by Wednesday to assist in the investigation.
"The integrity of the building has been jeopardized quite severely," Johnson said. "From a Madison Fire and Fire Marshall standpoint, we agreed we won't go in until it is safe to do so."
The building, which is said to be a total loss, features three walls now bowed out and one that is both bowed in and out. Roof materials are also laying on the floor of the building.
Johnson said the walls did what they were supposed to do. They were constructed in such a manner that if an explosion were to occur, the walls would absorb the blast.
The issue now, Johnson said, is the fact that when the walls bowed out, the roof trusses fell into the building.
Johnson said that although some combustible materials were located inside the building, not much was there. A large billowing cloud of black smoke evident a few miles from Winfred can be attributed to the burning roof tar.
Of biggest concern for firefighters Monday were nearby tanks, including three propane tanks on the east side of the building and a large heptane solvent tank on the west side.
Johnson said heptane solvent evaporates into a vapor very quickly. It is used in the wax purification process that takes place inside that building.
Johnson said A.H. Meyer and Sons is one of very few companies with the capabilities of purifying wax. In fact, he said, the process they use was developed at the Winfred facility.
The product produced, he said, is used by the make-up industry and in the manufacturing of church candles.
"It's a priority process to them," he said.
In speculating the cause of the fire, Johnson said it could have been from the equipment.
Firefighters were on site until about 1 p.m.
This is not the first fire at the Winfred company's facilities.
Two other fires, one in 1990 and another in 2004 both also occurred in buildings where the wax purification process takes place. In the 1990 incident, the source of the fire was determined as inside a pickup that had been parked in the building. One person was injured at that time.
In 2004, no employees were in the building. A heptane solvent leak was said to contribute to the fire.
A third fire took place at the Winfred facility in 2002. That fire was in the beeswax rendering plant. The cause of the fire was attributed to one of the heaters. No employees were on site at the time of that fire.
| |
©Madison Daily Leader 2010
| |
| |
|
  | Send us your community news, events, letters to the editor and other suggestions. Now, you can submit birth, wedding and engagement announcements online too!
Copyright © 1995 - 2010 All Rights Reserved. |
|
