Eight employees were injured following an explosion and fire at ADM's East plant within its industrial complex in Decatur, Illinois, on September 10.
According to a statement from ADM, the incident occurred at approximately 7:11 p.m. The facility was evacuated, but surrounding residences were not.
The East plant, which produces soybean oil and white flake for soybean protein production, is down at this time, and the adjacent corn processing plant is also temporarily down until operations can safely resume, said ADM.
According to several reports, eight workers were hurt and six taken to a nearby hospital via ambulance. The fire department noted several structures were damaged, including a 10-story building and adjacent buildings to the facility.
ADM noted in its statement that the main fire was extinguished overnight and it is continuing to closely monitor and assess the extent of the damage to the complex as it investigates the cause of the incident.
The fire was under control as of Monday morning, and an emergency crew remained onsite to monitor hot spots.
"Five employees remain in the hospital receiving treatment for their injuries, and our priority is providing our injured colleagues and their families support," said ADM in its statement.
Third incident this year
This is the third fire incident at the Decatur facility this year.
- In April, three employees were injured by a dust explosion in the facility's West plant grain processing area.
- And on August 28, two firefighters were taken to the hospital after responding to a three-alarm fire at the facility. Firefighters were onsite for 12 hours containing a large fire in a processing tank from spreading.
ADM's North American headquarters is located in Decatur, Illinois, which is the largest location and employee base for ADM globally with 4,000 employees. ADM has been in Decatur since 1939, when it began construction on the world's largest solvent extraction plant there.
