Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316034032 - Bartlett Grain Company, Lp

Inspection Information - Office: Wichita Area Office

Investigation Summary

On October 29, 2011, Employee's #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6, who were employed by Bartlett Grain, and two workers from Kansas Grain Inspection Services were working in and near a grain elevator to load a train and sample the grain. Four of the Bartlett Grain employees were working in the back office/loadout area and two of the Bartlett Grain employees were working in the truck dump/receiving area. The Kansas Grain Inspection Services, Inc., employees were working in the grain inspection/sampling area in the elevator, which was also in the back office/loadout area. The elevator was open for business from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29, 2011. A train had arrived at the elevator at approximately 4:00 p.m., and the employees started loading the train with corn at approximately 4:30 p.m. The elevator had been receiving grain via trucks throughout the day, and the last truck dumped its grain in the Number 4 receiving pit just before 7:00 p.m. At approximately 7:05 p.m., an explosion occurred at the terminal elevator, as the employees were loading the twenty-second railcar. Four of the Bartlett Grain employees, Employees #1, #2, #3, and #4, were killed. The other two Bartlett Grain employees, Employees #5 and #6, were injured and hospitalized, but they survived. Both workers from Kansas Grain Inspection Services, Inc. were killed.

Keywords: BURN, LOADING, GRAIN, FIRE, CORN, EXPLOSION, GRAIN ELEVATOR, TRAIN