Nebraska biofuels plant explosion killed two girls and an employee, officials say

# Nebraska biofuels plant explosion killed two girls and an employee, officials say

Event date: July 29, 2025.

A massive explosion at a Nebraska biofuels plant killed two girls and an employee, officials said, after firefighters spent more than a day battling smoke and flames in the wreckage. The blast hit Horizon Biofuels in Fremont and left a charred industrial scene that authorities said was likely caused by a wood dust explosion.

According to The Associated Press, the bodies of the two girls and adult worker were recovered Wednesday after crews battled an unstable building and smoldering debris. Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said the children were at the plant with a relative ahead of a doctor's appointment, waiting for that relative to finish work. The adult was identified as Dylan D. Danielson, 32, of Columbus.

The AP report says the plant produces animal bedding and wood pellets for heating and smoking food, using tons of wood waste. That process creates substantial dust, and Spellerberg said authorities believed the blast occurred in the elevator tower where wood dust had accumulated. OSHA warns that significant accumulations of wood dust can be a fire and explosion hazard.

The scene described by AP was severe: the top of the elevator tower torn apart, concrete and rebar exposed, metal siding crumpled and charred, and white smoke drifting from the site even after overnight rain. Crews used heavy equipment to remove rubble and evaluate whether the whole building might collapse.

The company has 10 employees, according to the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and had experienced a fire in 2014 that damaged electrical systems but did not destroy the structure. That history adds context, but the AP report does not say whether the earlier fire contributed to the 2025 blast.

Residents nearby described how forceful the explosion felt. One person said her house shook from about a half mile away. Another said she heard one huge boom followed by a flood of police and fire vehicles. Those accounts show how an industrial disaster can ripple across an entire neighborhood even before the cause is formally known.

The tragedy also highlights the human cost of workplace accidents that reach beyond employees. Two children were present because they were waiting for a relative after an appointment, a detail that makes the event especially devastating for the Fremont community.

For investigators, the next steps will likely focus on how the dust explosion started and whether any safety failures contributed. For the families, the outcome is already fixed and tragic: three people dead, a plant badly damaged, and a city left to absorb the aftermath.