The Kentucky Fire Marshal’s Office has released findings of a three-month investigation into the Marshall County moonshine distillery explosion that left one worker dead and another seriously injured.
The Silver Trail Distillery exploded on April 24th from what the Marshal’s Office determines was the still not being designed to hold the pressure and prevent a “blow-out.”
You can read the fire marshal's report in full here
Silver Trail Distillery Accident Investigation Response Report
The report indicates the manufacturer safety sheet say the still "operates on less than one pound of pressure."
Deputy state fire marshal Bill Compton conducted the investigation. He says that’s contradictory to the still being equipped with a valve rated for 150 pounds per square inch.
“Being that the still was not designed or intended to be a pressure vessel, a pressure relief valve rated at 150 psi appears very excessive," the report says.
The rupture caused the still’s contents to reach high temperatures and seriously burn two employees.
Second distiller Jay Rogers survived, but his assistant Kyle Rogers died in hospital weeks later on May 11th.
The report concludes that the explosion could not be ruled as anything other than accident.
The distillery manufactured and sold “LBL 1950s” style moonshine.
