2 hurt in grain elevator explosion in Tracy, Minn.

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2 hurt in grain elevator explosion in Tracy, Minn.

Article by: Associated Press
Updated: August 6, 2012 - 7:03 PM

One CHS Inc. employee, one non-employee hurt in Tracy blast.

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By MARIA BACA

mbaca@startribune.com

Two men were injured in a grain elevator explosion Monday in the southwestern Minnesota community of Tracy.

The two -- one an employee of CHS Inc., which owns the elevator, and the other a non-employee truck driver -- were unloading grain after 1:30 p.m. when the explosion occurred in equipment used to load and unload grain, said CHS spokeswoman Lani Jordan. There was no fire, and all employees of the Tracy Feed Mill are accounted for, she said.

The injured men were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Their names and conditions were not available Monday afternoon.

The explosion is under investigation, Jordan said.

Across South Street, the early-afternoon boom shook the Tracy Municipal Liquor Store, said manager Ron Radke, who said he could recall explosions grain elevators in town one or two other times over his 30 years of working at the store.

Information was scarce Monday afternoon in the city of just over 2,600, which is in Lyon County.

"No one knows who got hurt," Radke said. "Everyone wants to know, but no one is saying anything."

Jordan also confirmed a second blaze at a CHS plant Monday afternoon. A small fire broke out at a soybean processing plant in Fairmont, about 100 miles to the southeast on the Minnesota-Iowa border. It was quickly extinguished, but two employees were treated at the site for minor injuries.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409