All 3 bodies recovered from Fremont blast site

Officials say they have found the bodies of the three people missing after an explosion at a Fremont plant on Tuesday.

The Dodge County Sheriff's Office said late Wednesday said 32-year-old Dylan Danielson of Columbus was killed in the explosion at the Horizon Biofuels plant. Searchers had found his body Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff's office said the bodies of two girls were found later Wednesday night. It did not identify them, but officials had said earlier in the day that the missing people were a Horizon employee and his two daughters, both under the age of 12.

Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said during a news conference Wednesday morning that the search of the blast site had "moved to a recovery effort."

Spellerberg told reporters why and how they reached the decision to change from rescue to recovery operations.

"Yesterday, in conversations with the Nebraska Task Force One, all the fire agencies and assessing the structure, to again the meeting this morning," Spellerberg said. "It was just determined based off of the explosion and what was assessed around and in that building, that determined [the] move to recovery effort, based on those facts."

Spellerberg said the two girls were at the plant waiting for their dad to get off work to take them to a doctor's appointment.

"My heart hurts," Spellerberg said. "This is a difficult situation to deal with."

Fremont Rural Fire Chief Carl Nielsen also spoke at a press briefing Wednesday morning, and said they were beginning to pick up the pieces and make way into the building.

“We have been nonstop fighting the fire," said Nielsen. "It's been ongoing, and the building is still on fire. We’re trying to start the delayering process this morning, with heavy equipment that we’ve had mobilized. It’s gonna very slow, so as we peel pieces off, we’re gonna be doing fire suppression at the same time as the search.”

Ashley Engler, the Nebraska Task Force One program manager, talked about the current situation they are working with.

"The lightweight steel warehouse structure with concrete elevator structure is making the structure basically very difficult to access, to gain access to the instability that's including the active fire that continues in the main concrete building," Engler said. "This continues to weaken as we continue to work and as the fire continues to burn, we are using all search and rescue resources and capabilities."

It's unclear what caused the blast at Horizon, which produces wood pellets for pet bedding and other products. The state fire marshal is leading the investigation.

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration records, Horizon was cited in 2012 for four violations that were deemed "serious," and was fined a total of $6,000.

Spellerberg said that as of Wednesday afternoon, there was still active fire in the building, located on the south side of Fremont, which was complicating recovery efforts.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced Wednesday afternoon that 14 members of Nebraska Task Force One, the urban search and rescue unit based at Lincoln Fire and Rescue, were officially activated. Five members had gone to Fremont on Tuesday after a request from the city.

“This is obviously a difficult situation for the community and those first responders who are working diligently at the scene,” Pillen said in a statement. “Suzanne and I continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of those who were in the plant at the time of this tragic incident.”

This is a developing story. Stay with Nebraska Public Media for updates.