Abstract: On Saturday, September 11, 1999, Employees #1 and #2, of the Marion (NC) Fire Department, were working with six volunteer firefighters to control a fire at the Industrial Timber and Land Company. The fire had started in a conveyor that was taking wood scraps from a storage silo to the boiler, and the call for the fire department was recorded at 1:21 p.m. At approximately 2:38 p.m., the storage silo exploded. Employee #1 was standing next to a fire truck approximately 70 ft away from the structure. Employee #2 was at the back door of the silo with five of the volunteer firefighters; he was down on his right knee, with his left hand on the silo and his right hand on the volunteer holding the nozzle of the 2 1/2 in. diameter fire hose. The two employees and four of the volunteers sustained injuries in the blast and were taken to McDowell Hospital in Marion. Employee #2 was treated and released later that day; Employee #1 was released the following day.