Two firefighters were killed last week in New Knoxville, Ohio, after flames ruptured through a silo at a lumber company. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be disclosed to the public, some experts have found viable causes for the ferocity of the flames.
Wayne Dellinger, an Ohio State program coordinator of agricultural safety and health, knows determining the cause of the fire can prove to be a tedious task, considering most silos are constructed differently from one another.
“There are two types of silos, one of which is oxygen limiting. If whatever the contents of the silo becomes exposed to oxygen, it begins to feed the fire and increase the flames strength,” Dellinger said.
Although silo explosions are rare, these accidents are more prone to ignite a destructive path during dry seasons. If a fire were to occur, Dellinger has learned injecting nitrogen or carbon dioxide into the silo can dissipate the oxygen, restricting the flames’ growth.
Robert Essenhigh, professor of mechanical engineering, has studied silo explosions, and recognizes a correlation between the dust aligning the structures walls, to the illuminating flames it can produce. After years of research, Essenhigh developed an ignition tube to test the flammability and reaction of dust particles in a silo.
He proposes that the explosion caused in New Knoxville may have been initiated by smoldering dust.
“When the firefighters were fighting the flames, the pressure from their water-jet hoses propelled the dust into the air, feeding the fire into a fervent frenzy. Sawdust can cause a rapid and dangerous reaction when in it comes into contact with the flames,” Essenhigh said.
Bill Teets, a spokesman for the state’s fire marshal, has not come to any conclusions the fire’s cause, but he is confident the silo’s structure had little involvement in causing the explosive fire.
“When silos are built, there is a building code that sets a standard in ensuring the structural integrity of each building,” Teets said. “Bottom line, every silo must meet a specific safety standard, including the silo in New Knoxville.”
