CEDAR RAPIDS — No fatalities or injuries were reported after an explosion and fire at Quaker Oats on Saturday afternoon.

At about 4:45 p.m., Cedar Rapids police and fire were dispatched to the back side of the Quaker Oats building in the 400 block of Second Street SW because of an explosion. The fire department found heavy smoke and flames coming from the north side of the building, along with evidence of an explosion, according to a fire department news release.

All plant workers were accounted for as of 5:30 p.m. No firefighters have been injured.

By 5:55 p.m., the fire was considered under control but not necessarily out. Firefighters continued operations on the building’s exterior and interior, according to the fire department.

As of 6:25 p.m., the fire department said limited operations were still addressing final efforts and overhaul inside the building.

After deploying all available resources from Cedar Rapids, assistance came from Marion, Hiawatha and Linn County, along with Area Ambulance Service.

Police blocked entrances to the plant along B Avenue NE. About 6 p.m. workers began leaving the employee lot.

In a video statement from the scene, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said all Quaker Oats employees have been accounted for and that no one is injured.

“This happened in an area of the plant that's kind of in the back, where I understand people fortunately typically aren't,” O’Donnell said. “It's an area where product moves back and forth so fortunately, we didn't have people where this reported explosion took place."

A spokesperson for PepsiCo Foods US, which owns the plant, issued this statement:

"This evening a fire started at the Quaker facility in Cedar Rapids. First responders are on-site working to ensure the fire is controlled and quickly put out. Details of how the fire started will be investigated. We can confirm all employees are accounted for, and we are grateful to the first responders who continue to operate at the facility to control the fire."

The Cedar Rapids facility is the largest milling facility in the world, processing over 2 million pounds of oats each day, according to the Quaker Oats website.

The cause of the fire and explosion is under investigation.

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