Silver Trails files suit in Circuit Court against still maker in the wake of tragic explosion that claimed the life of one worker and seriously injured another

distilleryHARDIN – It was Friday, April 24th when the Silver Trails Distillery in Hardin went up in flames, the result of what was determined to be a ‘massive equipment failure.’

The blast seriously injured two workers, one critically. Kyle Rogers, an assistant distiller at Silver Trails, succumbed to his injuries a little more than two weeks after the incident.

As the community continues to recover from the tragedy, a warning has emerged this week from Silver Trails, posted to their social media page on Thursday:

“Please Friends share this WARNING. If you own any size Revenoor brand still built by Terry Wilhelm of Yamhill Oregon – DO NOT operate until you have spoken with the Kentucky State Fire Marshall office in Frankfort.”

The warning went  on to say that the model 300 gallon Revenoor used by Silver Trail failed massively, hurtling 50 feet and bending a 10′ X 10′ sliding steel door before landing outside in the gravel lot.

Museum Manager Amanda Powell says the incident occurred totally without warning and happened four gallons in on a normal run.

Powell said the still maker chose to not be present and did not have representation from the Revenoor Company at the State Fire Marshall and engineer meeting following the incident. “The very day of the accident, Mr. Wilhelm began placing Revenoor Stills into bankruptcy and pulled the website down according to the insurance investigation,” Powell said.

On Monday, a lawsuit was filed in Marshall County Circuit Court by Balencorp Inc. (d/b/a Silver Trails Distillery – owned by Spencer Balentine) and Jay Rogers against the Revenoor Company, Inc.

An initial set of interrogatories have been sent to the defense which are set to be answered under oath within 45 days of service.  Questions include a request for information such as still testing procedures, product specifications, prior complaint – injury reports, and exactly how the sills were transferred to Silver Trails.still

The plaintiffs are also requesting information as to whether or not any prior litigation exists in relation to the Revenoor 300 gallon still systems, as well as whether or not the system had any features in place to prevent the build-up of excessive pressure.

The lawsuit claims Revenoor sold a “defective product which caused tortious injuries to Jay and Silver Trails.” It further states that on April 24 around mid-morning, “Jay and Kyle Rogers were in close proximity to the subject still when it exploded and caused Jay to suffer burns to approximately 80 percent of his body and caused Kyle Rogers to suffer burns to approximately 86 percent of his body, resulting in death 17 days later.”

The suit also alleges negligence saying, “Revenoor negligently designed, assembled, manufactured, marketed, distributed and sold the subject still system in such a manner that it created an unreasonable danger of physical harm and injury to the reasonably foreseeable and intended users.”

A trial by jury has been requested and the plaintiffs are seeking damages, compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost market value to the distillery among other things.

At this time, the family of Kyle Rogers has not yet made their intentions public on whether or not they will join the lawsuit.