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GOWRIE - A minor explosion in the West Central Co-op elevator sent two employees to Trinity Regional Medical Center Wednesday morning.

"Following standard corporate safety procedures, West Central personnel immediately notified 911 and worked with area emergency crews," according to Sarah Dorman, communication specialist for West Central. The explosion was confined to a receiving leg in the elevator, she said.

Both men, whose names were not immediately released, were treated and released from the hospital immediately, she said.

Gowrie Fire Chief Greg Benson said the two employees were in the area of the explosion. A fireball came out of a lower-level door on the south side of the silo, he said.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation by state fire marshal investigators, according to Jessica Lown of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Benson said it was a grain dust explosion, but it was not immediately clear what the ignition source was. There was no major structural damage reported, Dorman said.

Fire departments from Gowrie, Farnhamville and Harcourt and the Webster County Sheriff's Department all responded to the scene. Officials from Midland Power were on scene about 9:15 a.m. to shut off power to the plant.

Emergency crews were reported off of the scene by 11 a.m.

Nearly 15 years ago, a grain dust explosion at the West Central Co-op killed 30-year-old Jacquelin Panek, of Fort Dodge. A hot conveyor belt was named the probable cause of the October 1994 explosion.

Panek was operating the elevator at the time a driver was unloading a load of corn at the Gowrie site.

Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net