MOTOR BURNS AT CEMENT PLANT

Cape Girardeau firefighters were called to the Lone Star cement plant on South Sprigg at 8:32 a.m. Tuesday after a bearing on a 75-horsepower, 440-volt fan motor next to the plant's kiln burned out, causing the fan motor to overheat.

The fan injects air into the kiln at high pressure to aid in the combustion of finely ground coal dust that is used to fire the kiln.

Assistant Fire Chief Paul Kesterson said that when the fan stopped blowing highly explosive and flammable coal dust backed up into the blower pipe and was ignited by the overheated motor.

"When we arrived the pipe (about two feet in diameter) was cherry red," said Kesterson. "It took quite a while for it to cool down."

Kesterson said his biggest concern was not the fire in the pipe but the accumulation of coal dust, which can become extremely explosive under the right conditions.

Kesterson said the kiln was not affected by the fire and remained in operation. Damage was confined to the bearing. He said the blower was back in operation later in the afternoon after the damaged bearing was replaced.

Firefighters were dismissed at 11:46 a.m.