Before the disaster. One of the central towers loaded with corn collapsed. Because a neighboring tower, mostly empty, was threatened, emergency crews decided to bring it down also. The complex is owned by Big Gain, a Mankato-based producer of animal feed.
Cataclysmic structural failure: No injuries
ST. CHARLES, Minn. — Two giant grain elevators collapsed onto the Canadian Pacific mainline tracks near the Whitewater Avenue thoroughfare through St. Charles on the west edge of Winona County. Tons of grain spewed from the 60-foot cylindrical metal towers. Three grain towers remained in place. No one was injured, according to initial reports. Cracks were observed at the base of one tower about 12:20 p.m. The tower came down on itself two hours later. Meanwhile, shoppers were evacuated from nearby:
> Miller’s Market grocery.
> Ace Hardware.
> Dollar General discount store.
Emergency crews decided to bring down the second tower to control its imminent collapse as much as possible.
Cause uncertain. Fire Chief Scott Schossow declined to speculate what triggered the collapse. Speculation ranged from the weight of heavy weekend snow on the towers; to the possibility that corn inside the towers had iced up, expanded, and burst through the metal walls; to incessant vibrations from giant grain trucks that rumble in and out of the facility.
Transportation disrupted
Whitewater Avenue was closed. It’s the route of State Highway 74, which connects St. Charles to Interstate 90 a mile south of town. Whitewater Avenue also is the main link through downtown St. Charles to U.S. Highway 14, the main Winona-Rochester trunk route.
Big Gain Corporate profile
Big Gain manufactures custom animal feeds from corn. The company was founded in 1973 by Elton Klaustermeier and Mark Hinton with a truck driver, two mill workers, a secretary, and a run-down mill in Mankato. Their sons Tim Hinton and Kurt Klaustermeier later took over. The headquarters is in LeHillier, just west of Mankato. Big Gain has research facilities near St. Peter, Good Thunder and Rapidan and three smaller mills at St. Charles, Plato and Jackson. The company has a fleet of 22 trucks to haul corn to its manufacturing plants and to distribute bagged animal feed to cusomers in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin, The original mill was updated in 1981. In 1991 Big Gain installed a Kahl expander from Germany to become the first to use the new technology in the United States. Another mill was added in 2006 to expand in capacity. A micro ingredient system expanded Big Gain’s line of custom formulated diets. Technology at the Mankato location now processes corn from local producers into a semi-truck load of feed in 40 minutes.
Headquarters in Mankato. Two-hundred employees and 100 dealers.