Fire at Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-Op; no injuries; 24th ethanol fire in US since 2002

In Minnesota, Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op in Little Falls experienced a fire and explosion which blew the roof off the wood fuel silo. No injuries were reported.

The incident was the 24th ethanol-related fire or disaster in the past six years. A full list of ethanol fires can be found here.

In Colorado last week, a train derailed at Windsor. The derailment occurred on a section of track that had been repaired following previous derailments, and involved an empty ethanol tank car.

In Ohio earlier this month, an ethanol train derailed, caught fire, exploded and forced the evacuation of 1300 homes of people from their homes. Thirty of the 112 cars derailed, including eight that carried the ethanol that caught fire. The train carried one tanker of liquefied petroleum gas, which did not catch fire. The train was bound for Buffalo.

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