Coal Bunker Fire Sends Workers to Hospital for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

A fire that ignited in three of four steel coal bunkers at the 503-MW John Twitty Energy Center in Springfield, Mo., has sent three City Utilities (CU) of Springfield employees to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. Investigation into what caused the fires is ongoing.

The fires erupted on the 10th floor of the newly built 300-MW Unit 2, when the unit that burns Powder River Basin coal from Wyoming was being restarted after a planned four-week outage for plant maintenance. CU officials told reporters that the bunkers had been emptied of coal during maintenance, but some coal could have been stuck to the bunkers.

Plant Manager Bryan Feemster told reporters that carbon monoxide sensors inside the bunkers triggered an alarm at the power plant’s control room. Employees who went to investigate the alarm without air packs, discovered smoke coming from the coal bunkers and doused them with water, but they began feeling the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. Fellow workers wearing air packs later helped them back to safety. The injured employees—a maintenance mechanic, an auxiliary pit operator, and a senior controller—were reportedly rushed to the hospital. Their names and conditions are unknown.

"The source of ignition is associated with this Powder River Basin coal that we burn and one of the characteristics of it is that it will spontaneously ignite," Feemster told TV station KSPR. "You don’t need to light it with a match if you expose it to air for a long enough period of time. It will eventually oxidize and reach the point where it will ignite."

Twelve employees were working at the plant at the time of the fire. Firefighters later poured water and flame-retardant foam into the bunkers for two hours to completely ensure the fire was extinguished.

The Springfield News-Leader reported that carbon monoxide readings in the air near the burning bunkers were up to 3,000 parts per million. Fire fighters are required to put on air packs when carbon monoxide levels reach 50 parts per million, the newspaper said.

Sources: POWERnews, POWER, Springfield News-Leader