Joe (Big Joe) Fredrickson, 41, of Silver Bay was injured in an explosion on Monday morning, October 22 at Minnesota Power’s Taconite Harbor power plant. Fredrickson was the only employee working in a coalbunker when the coal exploded. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Joe is currently in Miller Dwan Medical Center receiving care for his burns, which cover almost half of his body.
At approximately 9 a.m. on Monday, October 22, there was an explosion in a coalbunker at the Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder. Joe Fredrickson, 41, of Silver Bay, a fuels technician, was in the bunker at the time of the explosion. He was badly injured and remains hospitalized at Essentia Duluth (formerly Miller Dwan).
Fredrickson was transported by Cook County Ambulance to the Cook County North Shore Hospital and then transferred to Essentia Duluth. Reached at press time on Wednesday, October 24, Essentia spokesperson Kim Kaiser could only say that Fredrickson’s condition was “critical.”
The Fredrickson family has created a CaringBridge website and reports that Fredrickson is being treated for third degree burns on his arms and second degree burns on his legs, back, sides and face, with 40 – 50 percent of his body burned.
The Schroeder and Tofte fire departments responded to the fire which was confined to the coalbunker. It was believed the fire was out by approximately 10 a.m. and the fire departments left the scene. However they were called back at about 1:30 p.m. Assistance was requested from the Lutsen Fire Department which responded with its thermal-imaging camera to detect hotspots so they could be extinguished.
The plant was evacuated while firefighters ensured that the fire was out. The plant is back in operation, with two of its three units online, according to Minnesota Power spokesperson Amy Rutledge.
Rutledge said the accident is under investigation and added that they do not expect to have an immediate answer. She said Minnesota Power is working with the state fire marshal, some “third-party investigators” and its own internal team to try to determine the cause of the explosion.
The Schroeder Fire Department has been called to previous fires, which did not result in injuries or major damage—in November 2009 and in May 2011. After the 2011 fire, Taconite Harbor Managing Superintendent David Rannetsberger told the Cook County News-Herald that spontaneous fires are not uncommon when coal is stagnant. He said coal piles frequently get “hot spots.”
Rutledge said the coal plant does experience hot spots and workers take various preventative measures—monitoring, identifying hotspots and digging them out. “There is equipment at the plant to deal with that and we take steps to mitigate them. So, in this instance we are very interested in finding out the ignition source of the blast so we can take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Rutledge said Minnesota Power’s concern right now is for Fredrickson and his family—and for his coworkers. She said there has been a meeting with employees to talk about the explosion and to give employees the resources needed to deal with the crisis. “It’s important to recognize that this is a tough time for all of them.”
Leave a Reply