Bodies of man and 2 young girls recovered at site of Fremont industrial plant explosion

FREMONT, Neb. — Firefighters spent much of Wednesday dousing smoldering debris while search crews carefully traversed a heavily damaged Fremont industrial plant after an explosion at the site midday Tuesday.

Authorities said Wednesday afternoon they recovered the remains of 32-year-old Dylan Danielson about 24 hours after the initial explosion at the Horizon Biofuels plant near East Cloverly Road and South Union Street. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office late Wednesday said the bodies of two young girls who were inside the plant at the time had also been recovered.

Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said early Wednesday that the search for the three people missing had transitioned to a recovery effort. He described those missing as a man who was an employee of the plant and two girls under the age of 12.

Spellerberg said the girls were waiting for the man to finish work because they were going to a doctor’s appointment.

Spellerberg declined to identify the three, citing respect for the family.

“My heart hurts,” he said.

Family and loved ones of the victims were gathered near a parking lot near the plant Wednesday, waiting for news of progress of the search effort.

With lawn chairs and a truck bed holding a cooler and a case of bottled water, one woman said they could be waiting for days. Family members declined to speak to reporters there.

Later, a family member told The World-Herald: “The search for survivors is ongoing, and the family is encouraging people to pray.”

Search officials said the stubborn fire and the heavy damage to the structure were complicating efforts to find and recover the remains of the three.

“We’ve been doing everything we can, bringing every agency and resource we can,” Spellerberg said.

Fremont Rural Fire Chief Carl Nielsen said the building was still on fire Wednesday morning, but they are hopeful that they can soon begin a process of “delayering.”

“It’s going to be very slow, so as we peel pieces off, we’re going to be doing fire suppression at the same time as the search,” Nielsen said.

About two dozen Fremont community members held hands in a circle at Moeller Park Wednesday evening for prayer and reflection.

Fremont Church of the Nazarene Pastor Tyler Runyan led the group in prayer, with a baby perched on her hip.

“The community has really come together,” Runyan said. “I think they just feel a burden for the situation and want to support one another.”

She said the church has received and delivered more than 4,000 water bottles to the donation center, and businesses have stepped up to buy meals for emergency crews on the scene. Runyan said one business bought 100 Jimmy John’s sandwiches for the onsite crews.

She said she’s seeing an “outpouring of love” and support from the community for the family of the victims and the first responders trying to find them.

The industrial plant exploded just before noon Tuesday, causing portions of the building to collapse.

Firefighters from Fremont, Nickerson, North Bend, Hooper, Arlington, Waterloo, Valley, Cedar Bluffs, and Scribner battled the blaze as temperatures reached the mid-90s Tuesday afternoon.

Nebraska Task Force One, an urban search and rescue team from Lincoln Fire & Rescue that had recently been sent to Texas to assist in the aftermath of deadly flooding, was leading search efforts.

Gov. Jim Pillen said in a press release Wednesday that the state is providing resources to assist in recovery efforts. He also said representatives from the Nebraska Fire Marshal’s office are on scene.

“This is obviously a difficult situation for the community and those first responders who are working diligently at the scene,” Pillen said. “Suzanne and I continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of those who were in the plant at the time of this tragic incident.”

Fremont City Council members Jeff Peterson and Blair Horner told The World-Herald that the explosion has saddened the community.

Peterson said the incident reminded older residents of the Hotel Pathfinder explosion of 1976 in the heart of downtown Fremont that killed 20 people.

Horizon Biofuels recycles discarded shipping pallets from local businesses, as well as waste lumber from building manufacturers, to produce wood pellets. The building was Golden Sun Feeds prior to Horizon moving in.

The structure’s grain elevator was the site of a fire in May 2014 that put the facility out of commission for about two months, according to past reporting in The World-Herald and the Fremont Tribune.

The 2014 fire caused electrical damage and was mostly confined within the concrete building, fire officials said at the time. The company reported recovering to normal operations within about six months.