3 People Named Who Were Killed in Cambria Mill Explosion

CAMBRIA, WI — Three people are confirmed dead after an explosion at a corn milling plant in Columbia, a town located in south-central Wisconsin.

Didion Milling Plant vice president Derrick Clark reported Friday that machine operator Pawel Tordoff mill operator Duelle Block, and fork lift operator Robert Goodenow all died as a result of the blast.

A WISN report has revealed that federal safety investigators six years ago cited the company for exposing workers to dust explosion hazards. OSHA now looking at the milling plant again.

The Explosion

According to media reports, Cambria Village President Glen Williams said the explosion was reported around 11 p.m. at the Didion Milling plant in the 500 block of Williams Street. It is not known yet what caused the explosion.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is opening a reception center at the First Presbyterian Church, and The Red Cross will be providing Disaster Specialist staff on site for people to talk to.

According to the WISN report, more than 25 police and fire agencies responded to the explosion and fire that caused the building to collapse.

"It's a large three or four story building that doesn't exist anymore," Cambria Village President Glen Williams said about the rubble in the WISN report.

A view from the air revealed a mass of twisted metal and girders, right down to the foundation. A skeleton of heavy metal I-beams were all that remained in some places following the blast.

A tangle of equipment littered the ground and smoke was still pouring from the complex as of Thursday morning.

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Dennis Richards, Columbia County Sheriff offered his assessment Thursday morning.

"This has been very difficult for everybody that's been there, including the families that sat for hours waiting for some type of information," he said in a press conference. "I think the big thing that everybody has to realize is that the fire was still active currently we have a total of 16 employees that were working, two of them were able to leave uninjured. 14 others were not that lucky and we ended multiple employees who were transported via EMS and helicopter."

According to media reports, the blast was so powerful that it caused power outages in Cambria as well as in the next county, Randolph.

image via patch.com/associated press