An employee of Minnesota Power's Taconite Harbor Energy Center was injured Monday morning in an explosion at the coal-burning power plant.
Minnesota Power reports that firefighters and emergency responders were called about 9:20 a.m. to the facility along the North Shore of Lake Superior and cared for a 41-year-old Joe Fredrickson of Silver Bay, an 11-year employee who was in the coal bunker room at the time of the explosion.
Firefighters from the Tofte and Schroeder Volunteer Fire Departments battled the blaze. They left later in the morning but called back when another hotspot was found burning in the coal and in insulation in the ceiling, said Phil Bonin, Schroeder fire chief. Bonin said it appeared to have been a coal dust explosion that caused several spot fires in the large building. He said it wasn't clear what may have triggered the blast.
Fredrickson was taken by ambulance to Cook County North Shore Hospital and later transferred to Essentia St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth. Minnesota Power officials said his condition was not immediately available but that he was conscious and communicative.
Amy Rutledge, spokeswoman for the Duluth-based utility, said the coal bunker facility, where coal is stored before it is burned in the steam generators, was being filled with coal when the accident occurred. It's not yet clear what caused the accident, she said. Fredrickson was the only one in the immediate area, she said
Copyright 2012 - Duluth News Tribune
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
