HomeMy WebLinkAboutBinRescue10-02-05-
Contact: Marty Doll, Communications Coordinator
Phone 952-826-0396 • Fax 952-826-0390 • Web www.CityofEdina.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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 noon 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 & 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. -- 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,
Capt. Doug Bagley, Capt. Joel Forseth, Lt. 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.
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Cutline: Two Edina SOT members look on as a paramedic from Hastings is lowered into a
Farmington elevator storage bin. Rescuers spent more than eight hours freeing a man who became
trapped inside.