Sheldon feed plant damaged in explosion

SHELDON, Iowa — UPDATE: The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office Drone Response Team assisted the Sheldon Fire Department, Sheldon Ambulance, Sheldon Emergency Management, O’Brien County Emergency Management and Sheldon Police Department at the explosion that occurred at the Deluxe Feeds Elevator dairy building in Sheldon.

The Sheriff’s Office Drone Response Team assisted to help locate any hotspots that may have been present following the explosion as well as observing the premises from above for any other further structural damage not seen from the ground.

Capt. Jamison Van Voorst said, “This was the second explosion-related call in the past five weeks in Sheldon that we were able to assist at; we successfully deployed our drone and were able to take a closer look to allow responders to assess the structural damage and check for any places where heat could’ve still been present by using the thermal imagery capability that the drone has.”

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An investigation is getting underway after an explosion at a Northwest Iowa feed plant.

That blast at the Deluxe Feeds plant in Sheldon happened Tuesday afternoon just before 4:00 p.m.

The facility, which is in the midst of a multi-million dollar expansion, was damaged.

The plant's owner is grateful to the local fire departments and law enforcement for their quick response.

Five workers were inside the building at the time of the explosion and no one was injured.

The cause of the explosion and fire are under investigation.