On June 8, 1998 at 9:18 AM CST a series of dust explosions occurred at the DeBruce Grain Elevator near Wichita, Kansas, US, resulting in the deaths of seven workers and trapped ten others.

[8][3] The unsafe amount of grain dust throughout the elevator led to a rapid spread of the explosion, where it travelled to the head house and then shot in both directions through the north and south galleries.

[7] The seven men who died in the accident were as follows:[6] First responders arrived within ten minutes of the explosion, survivors climbed and were helped up to the silo tops where a crane borrowed from a local company was used by Sedgwick County fire rescue to lower them to the ground.

[1][5] At one point a US Army helicopter from nearby Fort Riley was used to lift an injured worker from the gallery roof of the south array.

The next day, with workers still missing, US President Bill Clinton declared the accident a federal emergency, which allowed FEMA to assist in the rescue and recovery operations.