The remains of two girls and a relative who were killed in a massive explosion at a Nebraska biofuel plant were recovered Wednesday after crews battled smoldering wreckage and an unstable building for more than 24 hours.
Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said earlier at a news conference that the children were at the Horizon Biofuels plant ahead of a doctor’s appointment, waiting for their relative to finish work. He was unsure of their exact ages but believed both were under age 12.
Officials identified the adult as Dylan D. Danielson, 32, of Columbus. They would not name the girls, according to a statement from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Sgt. Brie Frank said heavy equipment was brought in to remove rubble, allowing crews to suppress the fire and access part of the building for the recovery mission.
The plant makes animal bedding and wood pellets for heating and smoking food, using tons of wood waste. Spellerberg said authorities believe Tuesday’s blast was likely a wood dust explosion in the tall elevator tower.
“That’s really the only thing that makes sense,” Spellerberg said. He said Horizon Biofuels is cooperating “as far as I know.”
The company did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.
The top of the elevator tower was torn apart, exposing a mangled concrete-and-rebar core. Metal siding on the building below was left crumpled and charred, while wisps of white smoke drifted into the air Wednesday despite rain overnight.
Spellerberg said fire crews had been evaluating whether the whole facility might collapse.
“My heart hurts,” Spellerberg told reporters. “It’s a tragedy. We pray for all the families involved.”
The company has 10 employees, according to the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
A 2014 fire at the building damaged the electrical system but left the structure intact, according to reporting by the Fremont Tribune. Significant accumulations of wood dust particles can be a fire and explosion hazard, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Taylor Kirklin, who lives about a half mile from the building, said her whole house shook from the explosion at around noon. It was so loud that she thought someone crashed a car into her family’s dog kennel business on the property.
“We were really unsure when the explosion happened which plant it was, because there are so many in that area,” she said.
Emily Anderson, who lives just blocks from the plant, said she heard “one really big boom” before police cars flooded in.
“There were just huge plumes of very, very black smoke,” Anderson said. “It was scary.”
Fremont, a city of about 27,000 and the sixth-largest in Nebraska, is 32 miles northwest of Omaha.
