An explosion and fire at Suwannee American Cement plant in Branford sent two workers to the hospital with severe burns in the early morning hours of Nov. 29, according to the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. Another worker also suffered minor burns.

The explosion and fire apparently happened minutes before midnight when the workers were having some problems with the coal furnace, reports said.

When the workers went to check on the coal fire, there was a small explosion and the employees were burned, according to the report filed by Deputy Kelly Putnel.

One of the workers suffered third degree burns to 40 percent of his body and was treated at the plant by Suwannee County Fire/Rescue, Putnel said. The severely injured worker was transported by ambulance to Lake City Medical Center. Another worker, who was also treated by Fire/Rescue, received severe burns to his arms and face. This worker was transported by ambulance to Shands at Live Oak for treatment. A third worker appeared to be uninjured.

Helicopters were unavailable at the time due to severe weather in the area.

Fire/Rescue units from Branford and Live Oak and volunteer fire fighters from McAlpin and the Ranchettes responded with a total of six trucks arriving at the plant.

Putnel said he talked with SAC employee Randy Brown, who told him there were problems in the coal furnace. Putnel said Brown told him he did not know how the fire happened.

According to the company’s chief executive officer Dan Fritz the employees who were burned in the incident were Matt Edmonds and Cedric Wade. Another employee Keith Moeller was uninjured. All three employees were wearing their safety gear and appeared to have been following approved procedures when the accident took place.

According to a fire report by Suwannee County Fire/Rescue, when units arrived, they were advised there was a small fire inside one of the coal hoppers. Fire fighters entered SAC’s control room and were advised that the coal was going to be run out of the hopper and into a burner and CO2 was going to be charged into the hopper to extinguish the fire. The fire was viewed from the ground and found to be decreasing and temperatures appeared to be reducing, the report said. After making sure the dump off was working, fire fighters checked with the plant manager who advised that he thought everything was fine and all units could clear, the report said. The fire fighters at this point left the scene, according to the report.

According to the Sheriff’s Office report, those injured said they did not know how the fire happened.

The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately release the names of those injured until they were sure the families had been notified.

Attempts to reach plant officials were unsuccessful Tuesday afternoon. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Public Relations person Jill Johnson, when contacted Tuesday afternoon, was unaware of the accident. She said DEP only regulates the plant regarding permitting.

Although burned, Edmonds and Wade were able to respond to deputies and paramedics immediately after the accident and Fritz said both are being treated Tuesday at the burn unit at Shands at the University of Florida.