Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305819435 - Conagra Foods

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Investigation Summary

On September 9, 2002, Employee #1 was working at a food processing facility that produced kosher meats. He was upstairs in his second floor office. At approximately 10:30 p.m., a coworker on the first floor noticed smoke coming from the refrigeration units in the ceiling, and also saw smoke coming down the stairwell from the second floor. He evacuated coworkers from the first floor. All the coworkers exited the building and went to the guard station, where a list of names of evacuees was drafted. At 10:46 p.m., the Indianapolis Fire Department dispatched equipment to the scene. The plant superintendent was told that all employees had safely evacuated the building and he passed this information on to the fire department when it arrived at 10:49 p.m. By the time, the firefighters entered the building, automatic sprinklers had knocked down most of the fire and were keeping hidden fires at bay. One team of firefighters kicked in the wooden door to a room west of the area involved in the fire. They were met with heavy smoke and their visibility was reduced to zero; they also experienced several electric shocks while conducting a search for hidden fires and potential victims. Firefighters evacuated the area and electrical power to it was shut down. They later reentered the room and discovered the body of Employee #1 lying under some ceiling tile and insulation that had fallen on top of him. The telephone handset for the room was lying on the desk approximately 1 ft from its base. It was reported that the guard station received at least three calls during the early stages of the fire. The heaviest burn damage in the ceiling of the fire area appeared to be approximately 17 ft from the door of Employee #1's office. The coroner's office listed the cause of death as smoke inhalation.

Keywords: FIRE, INHALATION, SMOKE, SMOKE INHALATION