Fire at Corn Processing Plant Sends 2 Firefighters to Hospital

A third-alarm fire at ADM's East Plant occurred on Monday, Aug. 28. Two Decatur, IL firefighters were taken to the hospital after responding to the location, reported local news WAND.

A statement from an ADM representative said that a fire was detected by employees in the feed house of the corn processing plant at ADM’s Decatur complex during some maintenance activities Monday. 

The plant was evacuated, and all employees were accounted for.

First arriving crews from the Decatur Fire Department found heavy fire and smoke from the industrial structure that contained process tanks.

Crews accessed the fire area and discovered heavy fire in a processing tank that was spreading into adjacent tanks.

Large attack lines were deployed from a ladder truck to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the structure while ADM employees injected steam and water into tanks.

The incident commander upgraded the fire to a third alarm.

Crews were on scene for 12 hours before the fire was completely under control.

Two Decatur firefighters were transported to the hospital where one was treated and released and the other was admitted for observation.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.