One killed, three injured in Lake City Army Ammunition Plant explosion in Independence

An explosion at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence killed one person and injured three others.

The explosion happened Tuesday in a mixing building at the plant. The three injured employees were taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to a release from the U.S. Army’s Joint Munitions Command.

The plant provides small-caliber munitions and operates the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s test center. The plant was established in December 1940 with production beginning a year later.

The plant has a government staff of 29 Army civilians and one soldier to provide contract oversight. The government staff has a payroll of $2.9 million.

Contractor statistics are not available because they are considered to be proprietary.

The plant is on nearly 4,000 acres with 408 buildings, 43 magazines, nine warehouses, 11 igloos and storage capacity of 707,000 square feet.

Previous explosions at Lake City have killed and injured other workers.

In March 2011, an explosion injured six people in a construction area near where workers load powder into bullets. One worker was flown by helicopter to a local hospital.

In December 1990, a primer mixture exploded as a worker pushed materials down the sides of a bowl with a sponge. The worker died.

In August 1981, a worker loading igniter mix into a van suffered severe burns when 175 pounds of the mix exploded. Raymond C. Still, 46 of Hardin, died at a hospital the next day. A 21-year plant veteran, he was moving the mix, which was inside rubber tubes, from a metal shed to the truck when the explosion happened.

Also, a 1985 explosion started a fire that lasted several hours in a storage building. No injuries were reported.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 2:54 PM with the headline "One killed, three injured in Lake City Army Ammunition Plant explosion in Independence."