A Valley woman is grappling with unimaginable grief after a deadly explosion at a biofuels plant in Nebraska claimed the lives of her nephew and his two young daughters earlier this week. What began as a routine visit turned tragic in an instant, leaving a family—and a community—shattered.
For hours on Tuesday and into Wednesday, there was hope. Kathy Harle and other family members clung to the possibility that 32-year-old Dylan Danielson and his daughters, 12-year-old Hayven and 8-year-old Feya, might have survived.
Video footage later revealed the devastating moment of the explosion. Harle says her grand-nieces were simply waiting in the plant’s break room—innocent and unaware—when their world was forever changed.
“They were good kids. He was such a good daddy, he really was,” Harle said through tears on Thursday, just days after the explosion. Dylan, the only employee inside the plant that day, had brought his daughters with him during his scheduled custodial week.
“It’s his time to get them for one week on, one week off,” Hayven’s stepfather explained at the scene. First responders worked tirelessly to comb through the wreckage, and by Wednesday, the worst was confirmed: all three bodies were recovered from the debris.
Harle shared that Dylan managed to call his wife after the initial blast. “He told her where the girls were. He was still on the phone when the second explosion happened. And then the third—when the break room collapsed,” she recounted. That final blast left no more room for miracles.
The biofuels plant, which manufactures wood pellets and animal bedding, is highly combustible due to the nature of its materials. “When you’re making all that wood, of course, you know it’s like your firewood logs. It’s going to burn for a minute,” Harle noted, acknowledging the painful reality of how the fire likely spread.
The facility had reportedly suffered a fire in 2014 that damaged its electrical system, though the building remained in use. Though investigators continue to determine what caused the deadly explosion, the human cost is already heartbreakingly clear.
For Kathy Harle, who now holds only memories of her nephew and his girls, the loss is overwhelming. But she is choosing to focus on the light they brought into the world rather than the darkness that took them away.
“I feel like this is very healing,” she said, referencing the outpouring of support and shared mourning. “I think maybe it’s to honor them.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the community is rallying around the family, offering prayers, support, and space to grieve. As the investigation continues and more questions are answered, one truth remains painfully certain: a loving father and his two beautiful daughters were taken too soon, and those who loved them are left with an ache that time may never fully mend.
