Pocatello-A 35-year employee of J.R. Simplot Co. passed away the night of Aug. 29 after suffering serious injuries at the Don Plant Aug. 28. Frank Rowberry, 53, was seriously burned at the company’s phosphate fertilizer plant west of Pocatello when sulfur ignited his clothes. Rowberry, a maintenance worker, was unloading molten sulfur from train cars by himself when the industrial accident happened, said Rick Phillips, a company spokesman. Rowberry sustained burns to 65 percent of his body. Rowberry was taken to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello that afternoon and later flown to the University of Utah burn center in Salt Lake City. Phillips said the company’s onsite emergency medical technicians responded to the accident within about two minutes. Simplot brings in about 1,200 tons of molten sulfur each day. The sulfur evidently sprayed out of a line onto Rowberry’s clothes. It was the first serious injury accident involving a Don Plant employee in several years, Phillips said. The accident site was secured, and an investigation initiated to determine how the accident occurred and to prevent recurrences.
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