• Subscribe
  • Buyer's Guide
  • In Print
  • Advertise
  • Station Design Conf.
  • FireFusion
  • Podcasts
  • 2025 Firestorms
    1. Safety & Health

    IA Firefighter's Family Sues over Fatal Explosion

    June 17, 2020
    The family of a Clinton firefighter killed in a 2019 blast at an Archer-Daniels-Midland grain facility that also seriously injured another firefighter has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit.

    By Thomas Geyer

    Source Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa

    Clinton, IA, Fire Department
    Clinton, IA, Lt. Eric Hosette.
    Clinton, IA, Lt. Eric Hosette.

    A Chicago law firm representing the family of a Clinton, Iowa, firefighter who was killed in an explosion while fighting a silo fire at the Archer-Daniels-Midland Grain Facility on Jan. 5, 2019, and another Clinton firefighter who was severely injured in the explosion, has filed a suit in Clinton County District Court for wrongful death and negligence.

    The suit was filed June 12 by attorney Stephen Smalling of the Chicago law firm Capron & Avgerinos, and names Archer-Daniels-Midland, Bill Whitters Construction Co., and/or BWC Industrial Services, LLC, of Solon.

    RELATED:

    An explosion in grain Silo 2 at ADM’s Clinton facility killed 33-year-old Clinton Fire Department Lt. Eric Hosette and severely injured Clinton firefighter Adam Cain.

    The lawsuit outlines numerous counts of alleged negligence against both ADM and Bill Whitters, including that ADM failed to provide accurate information about what material was actually on fire in the silo and the condition of the material.

    Knowledge of the materials and its condition would have allowed firefighters, including Hosette and Cain, to use less dangerous maneuvers to extinguish the fire in the silo.

    The silo was filled with gluten which had caught fire.

    The suit asks for compensation for both the family of Hosette and for Cain in an amount that is “fair and reasonable” to be determined by the evidence.

    The Occupational, Safety and Health Administration fined both ADM and Bill Whitter’s Construction in connection with the deadly blaze.

    ADM was issued five violations for a total of $55,894. Bill Whitter's Construction was issued one violation for $7,760.

    ———

    ©2020 Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa

    Visit Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa at http://www.qctimes.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

    Voice Your Opinion!

    To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!

    Streamlight
    Measuring just 5.3 inches long and weighing only 5.4 ounces, the MegaStream USB features three output modes.
    fh_fire_four
    5.11 Inc.
    The new Founder's Jacket is just one of many ground-breaking products 5.11 is showing at SHOT Show 2025 in Las Vegas, NV.
    SFPE
    Kimball's background experience includes fire protection engineering consulting with expertise in building code life safety analyses, design of fire protection systems, fire and egress modeling of buildings and subway stations, and risk analysis.
    NFPA
    NFPA logo
    Photos by Rich Panek/Deerfield Township, OH, Fire Rescue Department
    Early in the response to a motor home fire, the crew of Mason, OH, Fire Department Tower 52 applied water to the engine compartment at the rear of the vehicle. There wasn’t much change in the smoke condition at that location as a result, so a rear window was taken out for ventilation.