Explosion and Fire Hit Quaker Oats Mill in Cedar Rapids; No Injuries
An apparent explosion sparked a fire on Saturday afternoon, October 24, at the Quaker Oats plant in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Cedar Rapids Fire Department was dispatched at about 4:44 p.m. to the 400 block of Second Street SE. Arriving crews found evidence of an explosion and a fire that followed it. Videos on social media showed heavy flames and thick black smoke pouring from the north side of the building into the sky over the city.
City officials confirmed that all plant workers had been accounted for by 5:30 p.m., with no injuries to employees or firefighters. Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell said in a Facebook video that everyone got out safely. The mayor added that the blast happened in a back area of the plant where product moves back and forth, a zone where people typically are not stationed, which likely prevented casualties.
Firefighting drew on all available city resources, with supplemental units from Marion, Hiawatha and Linn County, backed by police and the Area Ambulance Service. In a Facebook update the fire department said operations had extinguished most of the fire and it was considered under control as of 6:15 p.m. Limited interior operations continued past 6:25 p.m. for final suppression and overhaul work to make sure remaining hot spots were out.
The cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation by fire investigators and plant safety managers. One person at the scene said a relative who works at the plant believed the blast was in the boiler system, but officials have not confirmed that account. PepsiCo Foods US said in a statement that emergency responders were on the scene and the origin of the blaze would be investigated. No damage estimate has been released.
The plant, on the Cedar River in the heart of downtown, is billed by the company as the largest milling facility in the world, processing more than 2 million pounds of oats a day with a workforce of about 750. It produces cereals including Life and Cap'n Crunch and is famous locally for its Crunch Berries scent. Founded as an oat mill in 1873, it was rebuilt after major fires in 1888 and 1905, and the Quaker brand turns 150 years old in 2027 under owner PepsiCo. Early in the emergency, traffic backed up on I-380 at the "S" curve as fire and emergency vehicles converged on the scene.
Officials described the fire as under control but not fully out on Saturday night and asked the public to avoid the area around the plant. Investigators will now determine what exploded and why, and the affected section of the mill is expected to stay offline until it is cleared. The fire department said further updates would be posted on its Facebook page.