Explosion and Fire Hit Quaker Oats Plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; All Workers Accounted For

An apparent explosion set off a fire Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Nobody was hurt.

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department said police and fire crews were dispatched at about 4:45 p.m. to the back side of the plant, in the 400 block of Second Street SW. Crews found heavy smoke and flames coming from the north side of the building, along with evidence of an explosion, according to a department news release.

What happened on the ground

By 5:55 p.m., the fire was considered under control but not necessarily out. As of 6:25 p.m., the department said limited operations were still addressing final efforts and overhaul inside the building.

The department said the fire evidently began with an explosion. It also said firefighting operations had been successful in extinguishing most of the fire.

All plant workers were accounted for as of 5:30 p.m., the department said. No firefighters were injured.

The department used every available Cedar Rapids resource. Help came from Marion, Hiawatha and Linn County, along with Area Ambulance Service.

Police blocked plant entrances along B Avenue NE. Around 6 p.m., workers began leaving the employee lot.

Video and photos posted to social media showed black smoke rising over downtown Cedar Rapids, a city of about 140,000.

Where it happened inside the plant

Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell said in a video statement that every employee was accounted for and nobody was injured. She said the fire broke out in an area that handles product.

"It's not heavily populated with employees and team members. Which of course in this case was a blessing," O'Donnell said.

She also described the spot as "kind of in the back, where I understand people fortunately typically aren't." In her words, it's an area "where product moves back and forth."

The number of workers inside the building when the explosion happened has not been disclosed.

PepsiCo's response

PepsiCo Foods US, which owns Quaker, confirmed the fire in a statement. "First responders are on-site working to ensure the fire is controlled and quickly put out," a spokesperson said. "Details of how the fire started will be investigated. We can confirm all employees are accounted for."

The company thanked first responders for continuing to work at the facility.

Neither the fire department nor PepsiCo has named a cause for the explosion or the fire. Fire officials said the cause was unknown as of Saturday night.

The company has not said how much damage the building took, whether production is affected or when operations might resume.

A big plant in a small city

Quaker's website describes the Cedar Rapids facility as the largest milling facility in the world. It says the plant processes more than 2 million pounds of oats every day.

That is roughly 900,000 kilograms daily from one site, so any extended shutdown would be a supply question for PepsiCo. The company has not said whether that is a concern.

The plant is also part of the city's identity. Local resident Dan Gardner told KCRG: "Quaker Oats is a staple of this town. So we don't want to see them blow up." He described feeling "terror, sadness [and] worry" watching the smoke.

The Quaker Oats brand, through the Quaker Mill Company, turns 150 years old in 2027.

What comes next

The cause investigation is the next step. PepsiCo says the origin of the fire will be investigated, and the fire department lists the cause as under investigation. No investigating agency beyond the fire department has been named, and no timeline for findings has been given.

Until PepsiCo gives an update, what remains open is how long the fire damage keeps the plant from running at full capacity.