Hundreds Evacuate After Iowa Explosion
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hundreds Evacuate After Iowa Explosion*
Wednesday August 1, 2007 5:16 AM
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) - A tanker truck exploded Tuesday afternoon in
one of the busiest parts of this northwestern Iowa town, forcing the
evacuation of about 2,000 people - about a third of the town's population.
One person was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries, officials said.
The cause of the blast was unclear.
``We know that we have a trailer transport carrying some sort of
flammable liquid adjacent to rail cars,'' said David Krahling, spokesman
for the Sioux Center Fire Department. ``I'm not exactly sure how full or
empty any of those vessels were.''
A flammable substance exploded at the Farmers Co-Op Society as it was
being unloaded from a tanker into a rail car, and firefighters were
called, officials said.
Authorities ordered an evacuation within a half-mile of the site, just
west of the business district.
Lenore Prins, who lives one block from the co-op, said she could hear
explosions.
``First it was one, and then probably three, four, five more,'' she
said. ``I looked out the window and there was a lot of black smoke and
fire.''
Emergency crews moved some residents to a recreation center, said Jerry
Holtrop, chief deputy for the Sioux County sheriff's office. Crews
extinguished the flames by 9 p.m. but had not lifted the evacuation order.
The approximately 100 people who work at the co-op had been accounted
for, officials said.
The fire was contained to a small area, but the threat of further
explosions kept firefighters on high alert much of the night, Krahling
said.