Simmons Siloam Springs Plant Evacuated

City Hospital Reports 33 Workers Treated After Incident

More than 30 people were taken to a hospital Saturday after they experienced respiratory problems while working in a Simmons Foods plant in Siloam Springs.

Officials used a school bus and ambulances to take 32 plant employees and a Siloam Springs firefighter to Siloam Springs Regional Hospital after emergency personnel were called to Plant 2 at 8:32 a.m. for a patient with difficulty breathing.

By the time response crews arrived, many more plant employees developed similar symptoms, according to a city news release. The plant was evacuated, and a triage area was established for patients. Most of the symptoms included difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and nausea, said Siloam Springs Fire Chief Greg Neely.

“It took some time, but we had to rule out certain things,” Neely said regarding the cause of the incident. “What we were able to conclude was somehow some hot water got in contact with a pretty significant quantity of carbon dioxide or dry ice.”

Neely said the symptoms of shortness of breath and nausea were “pretty consistent.” Neely said the dry ice and heated water mixture created a cloud that depleted oxygen in the plant and led to a high level of carbon dioxide gas.

Of the 33 patients taken to the hospital, five were categorized as needing immediate assistance. Six were categorized as delayed, and 22 were considered precautionary, according to the news release.

The hospital followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control in treating the patients and kept them for observation up to six hours, said Kevin Clement, chief executive officer for Siloam Springs Regional Hospital. All of the patients were stable Saturday afternoon but Clement said he expected a few would be admitted for overnight care.

“The patients had some type of exposure that created airway concerns,” Clement said.

Simmons plant officials were instrumental helping provide communication services for patients who didn’t speak English, he said.

Fire crews turned the plant back over to Simmons after the investigation about 11 a.m. The remaining workers were sent home for the rest of the shift as a precaution. Simmons officials are checking their systems and ventilating the plant.

“The plant is safe,” Neely said. “We turned the plant back over to them, but they’re taking extra precautions.” Fire crews donned protective equipment to investigate the source of the problem. The investigation revealed no other leaks, gases or elevated levels of hazardous products.

Neely said plant officials were “incredibly helpful and cooperative” throughout the incident. “I really do credit the Simmons folks,” Neely said. “We all collectively began to talk about what caused this, ruling out different things. We came up with a plan, and by 11 a.m. we had it figured out.”

Neely said a problem in air circulation or the plant’s HVAC system was also ruled out. “It had to be something that was going on in close proximity to the workers,” Neely said.

There was no answer to phone calls at the plant Saturday afternoon.

Graham Thomas contributed to this report.

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