3 dead in ConAgra blast; CEO meets with families - South Florida Business Journal:

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ConAgra officials have gone through the records of the card checm system used by employees to entet and leave the plant and also havescourex visitors’ logs, sharing all of that informatiojn with government officials on the scene. “Ww have no reason to believe there was anyone elsein there,” said Sgt. Chriss Clayton of the Garner Police Department during a2 p.m. news The employees killed in the blast, whicnh sent dozens to locakl hospitals, were Rachel Mae Poston 67, and Lewis Junior Watson, 33, both of and Barbara McLean Spears, 43, of said Clayton.
Search and rescue crews continue to comb througgh the wreckage of the shattereed plant looking for any survivors or bodies that might have been When the search and rescue operation is the fire marshal and a task force from the federao Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will beginj an investigation into the caused of the explosion. ConAgra CEO Gary Rodkih said at the2 p.m. news conference that he had met with the familiess of the victims and that his company haddonated $100,000 to a fund set up through the Triangls United Way to help the families.
He said his company’s 25,00 0 employees also would be able to contribute to the Rodkin said ConAgra was starting the process ofidentifyinh “precisely what happened” to cause the explosion. “Our goal is to make sure nothinh like this ever happens said Rodkin, who described the events at the plant as devastating. ConAgra hopew to rebuild the Garner plant but there are many Rodkin said, not going into details.
The facilit y was the company’s only producer of Slim Jim The company has a large inventory of Slim Jimsfor short-term use and is working on plan s to resume production of the presumably at another of the company’s More than 100 local, state and federal responderss have been working for more than 24 hours at the plangt in the effort to find survivors and recoverr bodies. Thunderstorms overnight haltedr rescue and recovery efforts because officiald feared that the extrza weight of the water on the roof coulcd lead tofurther collapsing. Work resumed Wednesday A total of 41 ConAgr a employees were taken toarea hospitals.
Four of them remaines in critical condition at the Nortyh Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at in Chapel Hill on said hospital spokeswomanKaren McCall. Thre e more employees were in fair condition at the burn McCall said. Three firefighters were treated forammoniqa inhalation. The explosion caused threes large sections of the roof to collapsde and also dropped a large beam onto a row of crushing them. An employee of the companty text-messaged that at least three differentexplosions occurred. Authorities closed Jones Sausage Road between Interstate 40 and Old Garnerf Road as emergency crews worked to contain an ammonia leak andevacuate workers.
Family members of ConAgrwa employees and workers who were not injured were reunited at the Garner Senior Centerf because the workers were not able to move theitr vehicles from theplant site. ConAgra spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said Wednesdayu that the cars woul be towed to a secure locatio where employees couldretrieve them. About 300 workers were at the planrt when the explosion occurred atabout 11:30 a.m. A spokesmann for the says the facilityg was inspected seven times betweem 2006 and 2009 for health andsafety violations. The last inspectionn was July 29, 2008, in responsw to a health complaint. No violationx were found. The last violation was found inApril 2007.
ConAgrwa was fined $625 for safety equipment