A large fire broke out at a Quaker Oats facility in Iowa on Saturday following what officials described as a possible explosion. Despite the scale of the incident, no one was injured.
Thick smoke and flames rose from the northern section of the plant as firefighters arrived at about 4:45 p.m., according to the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. The facility is considered the largest of its kind in the world.
Fire officials said the blaze began after an explosion inside the building.
Every worker at the site was able to get out safely, and no injuries were reported, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a Facebook post.
O’Donnell explained that the fire started in a section used to handle products where relatively few employees work. “Which of course in this case was a blessing,” she said.
Officials have not said how many people were inside the building when the explosion and fire occurred.
“Firefighting operations were successful in extinguishing most of the fire,” the Cedar Rapids Fire Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.
By approximately 6:25 p.m. local time, crews were still conducting limited interior operations, including final fire suppression and overhaul work.
The cause of the explosion and subsequent fire had not been determined by Saturday night, fire officials said.
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No firefighters were hurt while working to bring the blaze under control.
A witness said the sight of smoke pouring from the plant brought feelings of “terror, sadness [and] worry.”
“Explosions are bad, fires are bad,” Dan Gardner told KCRG.
“Quaker Oats is a staple of this town,” he said. “So we don’t want to see them blow up.”
Emilio Esquivel, who was visiting from Texas, compared the dramatic scene to something from a film.
“Seeing something like that was just like eye opening,” Esquivel told the local station. “It was eyebrow raising. It was crazy.”
According to the company’s website, the Quaker Oats plant is the world’s largest milling facility, processing more than 2 million pounds of oats every day.
The Quaker Oats Company, owned by PepsiCo, is best known for products including its old-fashioned oats.
With Post wires.
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