[gimlet]

Wow, there were electrical flashes in that grain elevator dust cloud but no blast, maybe soybean dust doesn't explode or it was mostly concrete dust.

In the late 1980's I was driving from Champaign, IL to Chicago and saw a gargantuan farm building / barn with a roof fire off the highway. One firetruck on scene didn't appear to help. I don't know if that barn fire could have been put out even with the Chicago Fire Dept. there. As it was in the middle of nowhere, it probably burned to the ground, I hope if there were animals inside they got away.

[William May]

Originally Posted by gimlet ↗

Wow, there were electrical flashes in that grain elevator dust cloud but no blast, maybe soybean dust doesn't explode or it was mostly concrete dust.

In the late 1980's I was driving from Champaign, IL to Chicago and saw a gargantuan farm building / barn with a roof fire off the highway. One firetruck on scene didn't appear to help. I don't know if that barn fire could have been put out even with the Chicago Fire Dept. there. As it was in the middle of nowhere, it probably burned to the ground, I hope if there were animals inside they got away.

A fireman I knew in Wisconsin said that the first thing they check is what kind of beams are holding the barn up. If they are wood beams, they will go in and fight the fire. If they are metal beams or girders, then they stay outside. Once the steel heats up, it loses strength, and everything comes crashing down. But a 12" X 12" wooden beam has to burn for 30 minutes before it begins to weaken. If the fire just started, they would fight a barn fire inside with the flaming beams above them, and not worry that much.

[Yanni]

"nearly a metric ton"...i'd say there was a bit more than that

[houseoftechno]

Originally Posted by Yanni ↗

"nearly a metric ton"...i'd say there was a bit more than that

Oh take it easy on the journalists. They didn't get many material science lessons in their literature and art appreciation classes.

I noticed they used the "metric" adjective to show that they are well informed of the UN sanctioned system of measurement, although not a soul in Illinois uses it.