UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 5:20 a.m. on October 14, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at a wood fibers plant at the American Wood Fibers. Several third shift employees in a blast protected the supervisor's office witnessed the fire and the second blast, a wood dust explosion, which originated in the wood flour milling area. No employees were working in the immediate area of the blast, but the explosive force of the blast blew out the garage door separator into adjoining sections of the plant. An employee, who was working in the adjacent to the blast area was burned over 21 percent of his body. He was hospitalized. Another employee, who was in a further distance from the blast area, was thrown against equipment and sustained severe contusions. The main blast also blew out the garage door separating the milling area from a bulk wood shavings warehouse. The thermal pressure wave struck Employee #1, a sole warehouse employee, operating a front end loader and killed him instantly.