Press releases

Edina Fire Department aids in rescue of man trapped in corn bin

Edina, Minn., Feb. 5, 2010 – The Edina Fire Department and members of its Special Operations Team (SOT) put their specialized rescue training to good use last Thursday, helping free a man who had fallen and was trapped inside a 50-foot grain bin in Farmington, Minn.
 
Shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, authorities in Farmington were notified that an employee of the Feely grain elevator had fallen into one the elevator’s large storage bins. Reports indicate that the man lost his footing while attempting to loosen frozen corn from inside of the bin. He slid toward the bottom, becoming buried up to his chest in corn.
 
The Edina Fire Department received a call for mutual aid just after 12 p.m. from the Dakota County SOT. Nine Edina firefighter/paramedics, most of whom are also SOT members, arrived on the scene and joined a number of other area fire departments and tactical rescue teams as they attempted to free the man.
 
A hole was cut in the top of the bin, and a ladder truck was used to allow rescuers access. Members of Edina’s SOT were placed in a rescue group with members of Dakota County’s SOT on a catwalk of existing scaffolding above the bin. According to Training and Safety Battalion Chief Tom Schmitz, rescuers were unable to simply pull the man free because the corn around him was too heavy; the man first needed to be dug out. Edina SOT members were charged with operating the rope rigging that helped lower rescuers and supplies into the bin.
 
For hours, Edina firefighter/paramedics helped lower a number of plywood barricades one at a time into the bin. The barricades were used to construct a box around the trapped man to keep additional corn from seeping on top of him as rescuers attempted dig him out.
 
Two Edina paramedics, Pat Sandon and Ryan Quinn – both trained in crash treatment – were among a team of rescuers who were lowered into the bin for hour-long work shifts. While inside, they helped to construct the wood barrier around the trapped man, remove corn and provided patient care.
 
Rescuers were eventually able to fit the man with a safety harness. According to Schmitz, Edina SOT members operating the rope rigging from above had to be particularly careful to keep the proper amount of tension on the man. Too much tension would have put undue stress on the man’s body, causing injury, and too little would have allowed him begin sinking.
 
The situation was particularly dangerous because the man was trapped at the bottom of a 40-foot wall of corn that gradually sloped toward the top of the bin. Authorities were afraid that any misstep could dislodge the wall, causing corn to slide down on top of the man, suffocating him. In order to limit vibrations, trains using the adjacent tracks were stopped and rescuers worked slowly and meticulously inside the bin.
 
“This was an avalanche waiting to happen,” said Edina Fire Chief Marty Scheerer, speaking of the severity of incident.
 
Around 7:30 p.m. that evening -- more than eight hours after the man had become trapped -- he was freed and lifted out through the top of the bin using the rope and harness rigging. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but was discharged shortly after.
 
Members of the Edina Fire Department who responded to the scene were Schmitz, Sandon, Quinn, Captain Doug Bagley, Captain Joel Forseth, Lieutenant Jeff Siems, Dave Ehmiller, Shawn White and Brian Hanrahan.
 
For more information, visit www.CityofEdina.com/Fire or call the Edina Fire Department at 952-826-0330.