https://winchestermilitary.com/Facilities#East-Alton


https://www.theintelligencer.c...ill-man-18167974.php

Funeral services pending in Edwardsville for man killed in explosion

by Ron DeBrock
June 23, 2023

EAST ALTON — A 60-year-old Bunker Hill man was killed Thursday afternoon in an explosion at Olin/Winchester in East Alton.

Oscar "Zeke" R. Bettorf died in the job site-related accident, according to Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn.

Funeral arrangements were pending Friday with the Weber-Rodney Funeral Home in Edwardsville.

Nonn said Bettorf was the driver of a semi-truck with a trailer loaded with shotgun shell primers that exploded while being transported inside the Olin property.

About 3:40 p.m. Thursday, a first responder outside the facility reported seeing and hearing a large explosion at the plant.

Madison County Coroner’s Investigator Kyle Burgess responded to the scene at the request of the East Alton Police Department and pronounced Bettorf's dead at 5:34 p.m.

Nonn said an autopsy was performed and preliminary results indicate that Bettorf suffered blunt trauma to the head, neck, chest and pelvis. A final autopsy report is pending toxicology and microscopy examination.

The cause of the explosion remains under joint investigation by Olin Security, East Alton Police, Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigations, Secretary of State Police Bomb Squad, State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

"We are deeply saddened that a Winchester employee was fatally injured (Thursday) afternoon in an incident involving a company vehicle at the company’s East Alton facility," Winchester officials said in a released statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee’s family and coworkers.

"This is a tragedy, and we will conduct a full investigation to determine what happened," the statement continued. "The safety of our employees, the community, and our environment is always our top priority."

Wieland plant firefighters on Thursday afternoon responded to a call located deep inside the plant in an area at the northwest corner of the facility described as the "primer island."

At 3:44 p.m., Wieland summoned mutual aid assistance; firefighters from East Alton, Alton, Wood River, Roxana and Rosewood Heights responded to the plant. Bethalto firefighters manned East Alton's station during the incident.

East Alton, Wood River and Alton police also responded to a staging area. An Alton Memorial Ambulance was called to the plant to standby.

The explosion occurred as employees were going through a shift change, many of them walking to their cars as firefighters were arriving. A light haze filled the air near the plant, but there was no heavy smoke or fire visible.

At 4 p.m. firefighters called for an air evacuation helicopter for a patient they had "not yet located". Within 15 minutes they reportedly had located the person; at 4:15 p.m. the helicopter request was canceled.

Wieland and Winchester share various operations at the plant, but Wieland provides plant firefighters for both operations. All operations dealing with ammunition, primers and gunpowder are handled by Winchester.

No surprise about primers being the cause.

I used to work at that location, many years ago. I was a marketing /product manager and would regularly meet with production in that building.

Condolences to the family.