Just before Dylan Danielson and his two daughters died in an explosion, he made a final call to his wife. The tragic incident occurred at Dylan’s workplace, Horizon Biofuels in Fremont, Nebraska, on the 29th of July. The two girls, Hayven (12) and Fayeah (8), were waiting for their father to finish work ahead of a doctor’s appointment. The biofuels plant uses tons of wood waste to make wood pellets for smoking food and animal bedding. It is believed that the blast was caused by a dust fire, which resulted in parts of the building collapsing. Horizon Biofuels is a small company, employing only around 10 employees.
Dylan Danielson’s Final Call To His Wife
After the building collapsed, Dylan found himself pinned underneath the rubble. He phoned his wife, explaining where the girls were located and telling her to get someone to come and get them out. He also stated that there was fire all around him, adding, “Our lives are in there. We need to get them out.” Unfortunately, neither Dylan nor either of his daughters was able to escape. Their bodies were subsequently found by emergency teams after hours of struggling through the fire and smoke.
The two little girls were half-sisters, and it was Dylan Danielson’s turn to look after his daughter, Fayeah, that week. According to Hayven’s stepdad, “It’s his time to get them for one week, one week off. This week was his. His boss lets him bring them to work.” Relatives of the two girls have now set up GoFundMe pages for both Hayven and Fayeah. One message on Hayven’s page said, “Hayven will always be a beautiful, goofy, caring, and bright ray of sunshine who gained her angel wings too soon.
Let’s show this family some love. We love you, Hayven, and we’ll meet again.” Fayeah’s GoFundMe page was also filled with beautiful sentiments about the young girl, with her family saying that “She had such a bubbly personality and lit up every room that she entered. She was a proud Swiftie, a devoted sister, a great friend, and a creative soul who loves fashion, crafts, and art.” On the 4th of August, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced that it was launching a formal investigation into the explosion.
Investigation Has Been Launched
“This horrific incident should never have happened. We want to prevent a terrible tragedy like this from occurring again,” stated Steve Owens, Chairperson for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. According to a report by the Fremont Tribune, A fire at the plant in 2014 damaged the electrical system but left the rest of the structure intact. OSHA findings cited wood dust accumulation as the potential issue in that case too.
According to one resident who lives just under a kilometer away from the site, Taylor Kirklin, her entire home started to shake from the explosion around noon that day. She added that the sound was so loud that she thought someone had crashed onto her property. Kirklin added that “We were really unsure when the explosion happened, which plant it was, because there are so many in that area.” Another resident who stays just blocks from the biofuel plant, Emily Anderson, said she heard one really big explosion before the police started arriving in their numbers. Anderson added that “There were just huge plumes of very, very black smoke. It was scary.”
The CSB confirmed that the incident occurred at around 11:56 a.m. and classified it as a combustible dust explosion and fire. Investigators plan to examine the plant’s dust management practices and the potential sources of the blast’s ignition. On the ground, conditions were still dangerous a week after the blast. Local reporters stated that there were still fires smouldering inside the site, with fencing set up around the unstable structure. The initial heat and smoke of the blast was so intense that rescue teams had to wait at least 24 hours before being able to access the site and recover the bodies of those inside.
The Bottom Line
The city of Fremont has rallied around the families of the young girls who died in the blast. Their support has ranged from kind thought and messages to financial support via GoFundMe fundraisers. However, the girls and their father, Dylan Danielson, deserve more than the thoughts and prayers of their community. Their families deserve an answer as to what led to the tragedy. It is vital that the CSB inquiry determines what caused the blast and hold those accountable for it. It is possible that if the dust in the building was better managed, the blast would not have even occurred in the first place. Preventative measures need to be put in place so that no mother ecer has to receive such a tragic call ever again.
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