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UPDATE: Arlington residents return home after grain elevator explosion

By John Boyd & Megan Strader

KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

9:21 PM CST, February 2, 2012

(ARLINGTON, Kan.)

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Firefighters at the Arlington Grain Elevator have given the all clear. An evacuation order has been lifted and nearby residents are returning home.

Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson says K-61 and the railroad through town will reopen shortly.

Residents living within a quarter mile radius of the elevator were evacuated Thursday evening for fear of a second explosion. The headhouse of the grain elevator exploded this morning and a small fire smoldered through much of the day.

Investigators say it could be days before the cause of the explosion is known. Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are on the scene.

A crane from Wichita is also helping inspect the top of the Arlington Grain Elevator. After the Thursday morning explosion, crews needed to survey damage and make sure there wasn't potential for a second explosion.

Director of Emergency Management for Reno County, Bill Guy, says one person has been transported to a burn unit in Wichita in serious condition.

As for physical damage to the building, Guy says windows are blown out of the headhouse area and a door was damaged. 

People in the small town say the blast shook people's homes several blocks away.

"I got in my car and came up to the stop sign on Main Street and I seen the elevator guy just flying down the street and I looked at the elevator and there was just all kinds of dust and smoke and stuff and it was like, 'oh no,'" said Rebecca Wetzel.

A local diner was open at the time of the blast. Jenni Yoder was waitressing and said everything in the building shook.

"We all looked at each other like what was that."

She said it didn't take people long to realize where the explosion happened.

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Watch: Eyewitness News at Noon Arlington Explosion Update

Watch: Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson Explains Arlington Explosion 

Photos: Grain Elevator Explosion in Arlington

Grain elevator explosion in Arlington.