CAMBRIA, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on the fatal mill explosion in southern Wisconsin (all times local):
11:15 a.m.
The Wisconsin corn mill where an explosion late Wednesday killed at least one worker was cited by federal safety investigators six years ago for exposing workers to dust explosion hazards.
Records from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration show that Didion Milling Plant in Cambria was cited in January 2011 for exposing workers to hazards associated with dust explosion and other fire hazards. The records say filters in the plant lacked an explosion protective system.
OSHA ordered the mill to correct the problem by April 2011. The records don’t clearly indicate whether the company complied but the case was closed in September 2013.
Didion officials didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press on Thursday. OSHA has launched an investigation into Wednesday night’s blast.
Authorities say two workers are still missing and about a dozen other workers were injured.
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9:50 a.m.
Hospitals in southern Wisconsin are treating at least 10 people who were injured in a deadly explosion at a corn mill.
Authorities said Thursday that an explosion and fire late Wednesday at the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria killed at least one person and injured about a dozen others. The small community is about 45 miles northeast of Madison.
Divine Savior Hospital spokeswoman Haley Gilman says the hospital in nearby Portage received six people injured in the explosion. She says one was transferred to the burn unit at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, one was admitted to the intensive care unit and four were treated and released.
University of Wisconsin Hospital spokeswoman Emily Kumlien says five people were air-lifted to her facility. She says four are in the hospital’s burn center, while the fifth is in the hospital’s trauma and life support center. She declined to release further details.
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8:20 a.m.
Recovery crews are searching a mountain of debris for two missing employees after a fatal explosion at a corn mill in southern Wisconsin.
Columbia County sheriff’s officials say the explosion and fire at the Didion Milling Plant killed at least one person and injured about a dozen others.
The blast was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday. Sheriff Dennis Richards says 16 employees were working at the time, and two remained unaccounted for on Thursday morning.
The blast leveled the corn milling structure at the Didion complex in Columbia, a village of about 770 residents roughly 45 miles northeast of Madison.
Some concrete storage silos are damaged but remained standing.
Village President Glen Williams says about three dozen police, fire and rescue agencies responded to the explosion at the complex, which processes corn for ethanol and other industrial uses.
There was no immediate word on the severity of the injuries or what may have caused the blast.
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7:30 a.m.
Authorities say two people are unaccounted for after a fatal explosion that leveled part of a corn mill plant in southern Wisconsin.
Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards said during a news conference Thursday that 16 employees were working at the time of the blast at the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria, a small community about 45 miles northeast of Madison.
Richards says one person is dead and two people are still missing following the explosion, which was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday. A sheriff’s dispatcher says 11 people were injured, though no details about the injuries have been released.
Dozens of area police, fire and rescue agencies responded to the explosion at the plant, which processes corn for ethanol. No information has been released about what may have caused the blast.
Schools in the Cambria-Friesland district closed Thursday because of the incident in Cambria, a village of about 770 residents.
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6:10 a.m.
The local sheriff says at least one person is dead and more than a dozen are hurt after an explosion at a corn milling plant in Wisconsin.
Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards says the blast was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee.
Richards tells La Crosse television station WXOW that at least one person was killed and more than a dozen are hurt. He says at least 16 employees were working at the time.
Richards says firefighters and ambulance services, along with medical flights, are responding.
Cambria Village President Glen Williams says the fire was contained by early Thursday, but he says the building was destroyed. Williams says there were no evacuations in the area.
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4:16 a.m.
An explosion at a corn milling plant has rocked a community in central Wisconsin.
Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards tells local news outlets the blast was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria.
Richards says firefighters and ambulance services from other communities have responded and he says there have been multiple medical flights.
Cambria Village President Glen Williams told Madison station WKOW that the fire was contained by early Thursday. He says there were no evacuations in the area and there’s no threat from chemicals or fumes that he’s aware of.
