Grain mill blast injures 2 workers

CELINA - Authorities believe welding inside a grain mill likely caused an explosion Thursday morning that injured two men and caused moderate damage at Mercer Landmark.

The victims - contractors from Indiana who were hired by the local company - reportedly suffered burns to their face, arms and legs. They initially were taken to Mercer County Community Hospital, Coldwater, and later to another facility in Indiana, but local officials could not confirm the location.

Celina Fire Chief Doug Wolters described the men's injuries as severe but non-life-threatening. The pair reportedly were able to walk on their own into the ambulance at the scene.

Two Mercer Landmark employees were a short distance from the contractors when the explosion occurred shortly after 11 a.m. Both escaped injury, Wolters said.

The fire chief said the contractors were welding brackets around a 10-foot grain bin in the 400 block of West Market Street when a "flash fire" - a sudden, intense fire caused by a mixture of air and a flammable substance - occurred.

"It more than likely had something to do with that welding," Wolters said this morning. "I'm pretty sure that's where the ignition came from."

The chief said the fire extinguished on its own before emergency crews arrived. He noted there likely were two explosions, although they occurred so rapidly in succession that no one noticed.

Celina firefighters immediately disconnected power to the building and helped get the victims into an ambulance, Wolters said. The crew remained at the site for several hours to ensure the fire did not rekindle and spread, he added.

A portion of the building's back wall was blown outward by the blast, the chief said. A damage estimate was not yet available.

Two agents from the State Fire Marshal's office were on the scene Thursday and will assist in the investigation with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Wolters explained.

Mercer Landmark - a locally owned farm cooperative with 18 facilities in Mercer, Darke, Van Wert, Paulding and Defiance counties - remained closed at press time today. Company safety director Ben Snyder this morning said he is awaiting word from insurance agents before reopening the business.

Snyder described the damage to the building as "cosmetic" and said it was deemed structurally sound by Wolters and agents from the State Fire Marshal's office.

Wolters said the last time a fire occurred at Mercer Landmark was in the late 1970s.

The explosion rattled homes and the nerves of several neighbors in the area. Alysia Voisin, who lives on West Market Street, told the newspaper she thought her furnace had blown up.

"It scared me to death," she said. "I was running around the house checking on the kids, ran upstairs to check and make sure my husband hadn't fallen down, and then I thought, 'Oh no, maybe it's the furnace.' "    After checking the basement, she realized the noise had come from outside her home.

"That's when I heard the fire trucks," Voisin said. "I went out and the neighbors were all outside looking down that way. I mean, it was a pretty significant boom. All my windows rattled."

A few doors down, Bob and Darlene Cramer also felt their house shake.

"I had just gotten back from my walk and walked right in front of the business," Bob Cramer said. "I had come into the house and suddenly it was a big boom."

Darlene Cramer said she first thought a gas line had exploded.

Dr. Crystal Oswalt, whose office is across the street from the grain mill, said she was startled when her entire office rattled. She appreciated how rapidly first responders arrived.

"They came very, very quickly and blocked everything off," she
said.

Mercer County Commissioner Rick Muhlenkamp was working about a block away in the second-floor office of the Central Service Building when the explosion occurred.

"We heard a loud bang along with a strong vibration for a few seconds," he said.

Brandon Adams, who lives at the corner of Market and Mill streets, said he initially thought a truck had crashed into the front of his house. Then he heard the sirens heading toward the grain mill.

"I knew then that something had happened there," he said. "I just hope the men who got hurt are OK."

Since January 2013, the State Fire Marshal's office has investigated 89 fires, explosions, hazardous materials and other incidents at grain mills in Ohio. Spokeswoman Lindsey Burnworth said she did not have specific data on explosions at the ag-related facilities.

- Reporters William Kincaid, Kathy Thompson and Shelley Grieshop contributed to this story.