Explosion, fire temporarily halts cereal production at General Mills plant

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General Mills logo.
Image: General Mills.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Buffalo, New York — Production was temporarily halted at the General Mills cereal plant in Buffalo, New York after malfunctioning equipment exploded, causing a fire.

According to communications between fire crews, a fan in a hopper exploded on the 4th floor just before midnight (EST). Fire crews responded within minutes, but the fire had been extinguished prior to their arrival. Fire crews say that a "faulty motor in a hopper" exploded, igniting dust around the equipment which caused a fire.

The explosion forced the company to shut down all of their mills and power to most of their facility for a short time as a precaution. Production and normal operations began to resume around 12:15 a.m..

No one was injured. Fire officials estimate the damage to be around US$100,000.


Sources

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Wikinews
This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.