CEDAR RAPIDS - Three workers at the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids were taken to the hospital after a brief, smoky fire at the plant.
Firefighters were called to the plant at 418 Second St. NE at 9:35 p.m. after sprinklers on the fifth floor of the plant’s flour mill were activated, fire department spokesman Greg Buelow said. He said the sprinklers put out the fire before or shortly after firefighters arrived.
The three workers went to the hospital with symptoms of smoke inhalation. Buelow said their injuries didn’t appear life-threatening.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately determined, but Buelow said damage to a dust collector on the fifth floor was consistent with a grain-dust explosion. He said the fifth floor sustained significant smoke damage.
The plant’s grain-handling system carried smoke adjacent floors of the plant, and firefighters and Quaker personnel were working to ensure the fire wasn’t conveyed as well, Buelow said.
Buelow said the building where the fire occurred was evacuated, but workers in other sections of the plant arrived for the night shift as firefighters were still on the scene.
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