WINONA, Minn. – Firefighters spent four hours Monday at the Bay State Milling plant where the possibility spontaneous combustion from flour dust posed a major risk, according to their after-action report. This is from the report:
> Firefighters were summoned at 7:45 p.m. to the giant mill the foot of Franklin Street.
> Bay State employees told the first fire crew that there was a possible dust explosion in a storage bin on the seventh floor.
> A second crew followed an employee to the seventh floor to assess the situation.
> Smoke was coming from a vent pipe. A two-foot by two-foot manhole had been blown through a side of the tank.
> All off-duty and part-time fire personnel were paged to report immediately to the scene.
> Another fire crew assessed the damage to identify possible access to the bin from the lower floors.
> When off-duty crews and part-time personnel arrived, the decision was made to flow water into the top of the tank and onto the smoldering flour.
> A 2-1/2 inch hose line with a spinning nozzle was lowered into the tank to cool the super-heating flour.
> Ductwork was followed from the bin to the dust collector to assure that all fire was extinguished.
> Five firefighters remained to 1:57 a.m. to assure extinguishment was complete.
Bay State Milling. 55 Franklin Street. Produces wheat, rye, oat, seeds, spices and other milled products.
All hands called. When fully staffed, the Fire Department roster includes 21 full-time and 30 part-time positions. A shift consists of six captains and 12 firefighter-drivers. Of those 12 firefighters, nine are paramedics. Image: Winona Fire Department