Officials confirmed a father and his two daughters were inside the Horizon Biofuels building when it exploded Tuesday and they are now calling their work a recovery effort. Ongoing fires and collapsed, unstable debris is complicating those recovery efforts Fremont Mayor Joe Spellerberg told reporters.
Spellerberg said the worker, whom he did not identify, was in a different part of the building from the girls when the explosion happened and that recovery crews were working to locate him. He did not say what work was taking place at the time.
Nebraska Task Force One, the state's highly trained rescue and recovery team is now in Fremont assisting local responders.
KMTV has reached out to Horizon Biofuels management for an interview. A spokesperson declined, saying it would send a statement.
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KMTV has confirmed an explosion happened at an industrial site Tuesday near Schneider Street and Cloverly Road in Fremont.
An employee at a nearby business said it happened shortly before noon and he called 911.
People living at least a mile away told us they heard the explosion and it even shook their house.
This is a developing story. KMTV will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
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An update at noon Wednesday from reporter Zach Williamson. At a news briefing at 10 a.m., officials say they believe all three victims are dead and this is now a recovery effort.
An update from reporter Hannah McIlree in Fremont Tuesday night, as she confirmed a father and his two daughters are the three people who were inside the plant during the explosion. They are still missing Wednesday morning.
An update from reporter Jill Lamkins in Fremont at 5 p.m. as the fire remains active.
Reporter Greta Goede talked with neighbors who heard the explosion Tuesday afternoon.
3:50 p.m. Update from officials in Fremont
Officials say there were 3 people inside the building at the time of the explosion. Crews have not been able to get inside the building, those 3 individuals are unaccounted for at this time.
Fremont Fire Department chief Todd Bernt says 9 fire departments responded. Because of the heat, crews are being rotated through shifts. The tower is still actively on fire, Bernt says crews will likely be on site for the next few days responding.
There are several streets blocked off in the area including Cloverly Road, Schneider Street, Union Street, and Cloverly Road next to Main Street. Officials are reminding neighbors to not go around the barricades.
1:25 p.m.
Reporter Jill Lamkins is on the scene.
Nebraska State Patrol says law enforcement has a large radius around the area shut down, asking people to avoid the area.
A viewer sent us this video shortly after reports of the explosion.
Fremont Church of the Nazarene shared this post on Facebook. They will be collecting water and Gatorade for first responders.
Chad Weltikol took this video of the structure in Fremont.
