Do do do do do do do dumb.

Hi, I'm Mike Rowe and I got nothing against celebrities.

In fact, I just interviewed Rob Lowe and Jason Alexander and they were terrific, but usually I interview people you've never heard of.

The plumber who makes $250 grand a year, the first responders who risk their lives to save complete and total strangers,

and the mad scientists who are about to change the world with a

better mousetrap. Those are the kinds of people I usually interview on the way I heard it,

and you're officially invited to give it a listen wherever you listen to podcast.

Hello, everybody. This is Jennifer Matarise, and before I get started with the podcast today,

I'd just like to take care of the usual housekeeping.

First of all, I'd like to make an announcement.

I will be having a giveaway for Patreon supporters of the podcast of five books on disasters.

These include A Night to Remember, The Circus Fire, Hiroshima, Dark Tide, and Isaac Storm.

If you'd like to take a shot at winning these books,

you have to be a Patreon supporter, so please think about joining and you may get a chance to win those. I will be choosing from among all Patreon supporters on March 10th. And second of all,

thanks go out to Craig for choosing the subject for today's episode.

And now that that's taken care of, welcome to disaster area.

Episode 31, the West Wigo Grain Elevator Disaster, December 22nd, 1977, 36 deceased, 11 injured.

Nine miles away from New Orleans along the west bank of the Mississippi lies the suburb of

West Wisco, located in Jefferson Parish.

In the most recent census, West Wigo had a population of about 8,500 people in a town of 3.5 square miles.

The origin of the name West Wigo is disputed, but most stories seem to go back to the time of Western migration, with someone pointing

to the town's favorable location and saying something along the lines of, and from there,

...