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CEO Says Cause Of Deadly Mill Explosion Remains Unknown

The head of a southern Wisconsin milling and ethanol company where five people were killed in an explosion says it will be rebuilt with the best available technology for safety and efficiency.

Associated Press
Jul 5, 2017
1 This Thursday, June 1, 2017, photo provided by Jeff Lange shows firefighters at the scene following an explosion and fire at the Didion Milling plant in Cambria, Wis. Recovery crews searched a mountain of debris on Thursday following a fatal explosion late Wednesday at the corn mill plant, which injured about a dozen people and leveled parts of the sprawling facility in southern Wisconsin, authorities said. (Jeff Lange via AP)
1 This Thursday, June 1, 2017, photo provided by Jeff Lange shows firefighters at the scene following an explosion and fire at the Didion Milling plant in Cambria, Wis. Recovery crews searched a mountain of debris on Thursday following a fatal explosion late Wednesday at the corn mill plant, which injured about a dozen people and leveled parts of the sprawling facility in southern Wisconsin, authorities said. (Jeff Lange via AP)

CAMBRIA, WI — The head of a southern Wisconsin milling and ethanol company where five people were killed in an explosion says it will be rebuilt with the best available technology for safety and efficiency.

Didion Milling CEO John Didion told the Cambria Village Board on Monday night that the milling facility, which was severely damaged in the May 31 explosion, will be torn down starting next week. He says work at the company's nearby ethanol plant can resume not long after that's done.

Didion says he still doesn't know what caused the blast. Federal regulators are still investigating.

In the meantime, Didion says he's been reaching out to local employers to try to find work for his displaced workers while he pays their wages until he can call them back to work.