Explosion at Archer Daniels Midland plant in Illinois injures 8 employees

DECATUR, Ill. - Eight employees were injured in an explosion and fire at an Archer Daniels Midland facility in Illinois on Sunday evening, officials said Monday.

The company said that the explosion occurred at about 7:11 p.m. at the east plant in the ADM processing complex in Decatur, Illinois. Several employees were injured in the blast and transported to an area hospital for treatment, the agricultural company said in a statement on its website Sunday.

Battalion Chief Wade Watson with the Decatur Fire Department said in a statement Monday morning that eight ADM workers were injured, and six of them were taken from the scene by ambulance with the "extent of injuries unknown."

The statement said the fire was under control and a fire crew remains on the scene monitoring hot spots. The cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation. The fire department said the incident did not warrant the evacuation of nearby residents.

ADM said in an email to The Associated Press early Monday that it had no additional information at the time. A company employee later said that ADM officials were preparing an updated statement that would be released Monday morning.

The explosion is the second incident at the plant in less than a month. On Aug. 28, two firefighters were injured while battling a "very labor intensive" fire inside the facility. In that incident, crews found heavy fire in a processing tank that was spreading into adjacent tanks. All on-duty firefighters and some who were off-duty were called to the scene. That fire was reported at 4:01 p.m. and the last unit did not leave ADM until 13 hours later.

Decatur is located about 40 miles east of Springfield and about 180 miles southwest of Chicago, where ADM is headquartered.

It was not immediately clear what products are made at the plant where the explosion occurred. The company’s Decatur complex employs more than 4,000 workers, according to the company’s website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.