Sugar Refinery Fire Extinguished, Death Toll At 8
A week after the fires at the Imperial Sugar Co. plant in Port Wentworth started, firefighters finally managed to douse the last remnants of the refinery blast, but not before another victim was pronounced dead. Seven other people have been found dead in the rubble at the Imperial Sugar Co. plant, bringing the death toll to eight, while one worker remained missing.
Michael Kelly Fields, 40, died early Thursday at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctor’s hospital in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said. Sixteen other employees remain hospitalized due to workplace injuries there, 14 in critical condition, she said. Emergency workers were able to pull a seventh body out of the second-floor break room Wednesday, leaving one body remaining. Authorities believe the last body is in a 200 square foot area in the room, which they hope to soon explore.
Sugar dust is thought to be the cause of the blast that started February 7th. Emergency crews were able to snuff out the fire at the plant’s main building Wednesday, but the blaze persisted at the refinery’s 80 foot silos until Thursday. The firefighting team extinguished the stubborn blazes using a mix of foam and water that lowered the temperature of the sugar silos from 4,000 degrees to below 70 degrees, said Port Wentworth Fire Chief, Greg Long.
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