TWO KILLED, FOUR INJURED IN ELEVATOR EXPLOSION

THIRD DIED LATER OF HEART ATTACK

Two men were killed instantly and four injured in an explosion and fire at the Farmers Co-op Elevator at Livermore Tuesday afternoon.

Dead are Don Zittritsch 24, of Livermore, an elevator employee, and Daryl N. Burmester, 18, of Hampton, an employee of Henning Company Industrial Service of Latimer, Iowa.

Injured were John Gales, 32 of Livermore, an elevator employee, L. L. Frederick, 72 a Livermore area farmer and his grandson, David Goerndt, 10, of Des Moines; and LeRoy H. Sheeler, 22, of Hampton, also an employee of the Henning Company.

A third man, Bob Taylor, 49, of Livermore died of an apparent heart attack about an hour and a half after the explosion.  He collapsed at the Livermore Tavern and was taken to the office of a Humboldt doctor where he was declared dead.

Earlier, his father, Ed Taylor, had collapsed while viewing the site of the explosion.  The elder Taylor evidently recovered sufficiently enough that he did not need to be hospitalized.

Apparently Sheeler and Burmester were installing piping above the bins in the elevator, work which required some welding.

Grain dust is highly explosive and Gales and Sheeler had apparently made arrangements not to weld and move grain at the same time.

One witness started that he had heard one of the workers (either Sheeler or Burmester ) tell Gales not to run the lift "today" (Tuesday) as he thought he could finish the job.

At the time of the explosion, beans were being unloaded from a farm wagon into the elevator on the north side of the elevator and from the elevator into a railroad boxcar on the south side.

Witnesses noted that they heard a "rumbling-like a train, and then the top of the elevator blew out."  "The entire top of the elevator was encased in a huge fireball."

Apparently, a secondary explosion occurred on the lower level, where beans were being unloaded by Frederick and Zittritsch.  Frederick, who was sitting on his tractor and his grandson were blown westward out of the building.  Both were burned badly.  Frederick is in the bandages from the waist up.  His grandson lost his hair despite the fact that he was wearing a cap at the time.

The north wall of the driveway portion of the elevator was blown out and the roof collapsed, pinning Zittritsch to the floor.  He apparently died instantly.

Burmester was seen being blown from the upper level of the elevator, which stands about 125 feet high.  He also was apparently killed instantly.  His body landed across the tracks on the edge of some pipes stacked between the elevator spur track and the main line.

Sheeler was either also blown out of the south side, or was standing on the boxcar at the time of the explosion.  He received first degree burns of the face and hands and lost his right foot and the ankle.

He was taken to a Fort Dodge hospital in very serious condition and was still in the operating room as 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.

John Gales was seen running from the elevator with his shirt on fire.  He ripped his shirt off and was taken to the Fort Dodge Mercy Hospital by another employee of the elevator, who said, "He'll be all right."

Algona, LuVerne and Humboldt ambulances were on the scene as was Dr. M. L. Northup of Humboldt, acting Humboldt County Medical Examiner.  Also present were several Iowa Highway Patrolmen, the Humboldt County Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff, and representatives of the Pocahontas County Sheriff's Office. 

The Livermore Fire Department was aided in fighting the blaze, which was confined to the interior of the elevator, by volunteer units from Bode, LuVerne and Humboldt.

The flash fire and explosion occurred about 1:30 p.m. with the electric clock in the office being stopped at 1:35 p.m. as the electricity to the area was cut almost immediately.

All three of the bodies were taken to Sievers Funeral Home in Humboldt.  Zittritsch, a former Algona resident, has been transferred t the Hamilton Funeral Home in Algona where funeral services are pending.  Burmester had been moved to the Vogel Funeral Home at Hampton, where funeral services are pending.

Funeral services for Taylor will be at the Sievers Funeral Home in Humboldt.

Note: Susan contributed this article and I do not know the date of the explosion.-KDJ