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I Lost an Old Friend This Afternoon

Posted on 4/23/26 at 6:56 pm
Posted by Missouri Waltz
Adrift off the Spanish Main
Member since Feb 2016
1436 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 6:56 pm
He suffocated in a grain tank. It is hard to explain how that can happen but any farmer on this board will know what I am talking about. It is almost always through negligence.

I counted responders from seven different jurisdictions and can honestly say that I have never seen a bigger clown show in my life. They had no idea what they were doing. They made it up as they went along and it took them hours to recover the body. Not that it mattered because by the time you realize someone is missing in a grain tank it is already too late. Nonetheless, you still try and give it all you have. With an acetylene torch, pry bar, and six men with scoop shovels I could have emptied that tank in thirty minutes.

Grant him eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Posted by Bjorn Cyborg
Member since Sep 2016
35389 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 6:57 pm to
I grew up on a farm and used to play in grain tanks and trailers. Thinking back that was stupid and gives me chills
Posted by Jim bean xxx
Member since Sep 2018
10176 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:01 pm to
Swallows u up

Sorry to hear
Posted by OWLFAN86
Erotic Novelist
Member since Jun 2004
196123 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:04 pm to
quote:

He suffocated in a grain tank. It is hard to explain how that can happen but any farmer on this board will know what I am talking about. It is almost always through negligence.
terrifying

Farming is dangerous when someone isn't paying attention
Posted by AlumneyeJ93
Member since Apr 2022
948 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:06 pm to
Condolences on your loss. High school friend lost his son in a grain wagon, got sucked under and suffocated.

Looking back consider myself and brother extremely lucky considering how many grain bins and wagons we went in to shovel corn and soybeans. Never used any kinds of safety ropes or tie offs. Inhaled a lot of dust in those bins, luckily neither of has developed lung cancer yet.
This post was edited on 4/23/26 at 7:17 pm
Posted by Bayou Warrior 64
Member since Feb 2021
892 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:06 pm to
Sorry for your loss. Prayers for his family. May your friend rest in eternal peace.
Posted by LAhinguarst
The Box
Member since Oct 2020
481 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:09 pm to
I ran a call similar to this this past weekend. Cap broke on a silo and entrapped a worker underneath.

Silo rescues are some of the hardest rescues to work bc the grain doesn't stop pouring and everything sinks in it. There is special equipment that you can isolate the person, but apparently not many companies or farms have this.

From a rescue perspective, it is not something that can be practiced, and it is not easy to get the person out. Traumatic asphyxiation occurs quick in these pts. It's sucks to deal with.

We were on scene for two hours and he was only unburied enough for us to get an EKG to pronounce him.... Maybe to just under his chest. Idk how long the recovery took ...


Sorry for your loss.
Posted by WWII Collector
Member since Oct 2018
8946 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:10 pm to
That is freaking terrible... God Bless to he family going through this...

I ponder, if he was a farmer and main breadwinner. Will the family be ok? Or will the farm cease?

Terrible all the way around.

Post any links to fundraiser... I will chip in a few dollars.
Posted by ChatGPT of LA
Member since Mar 2023
5953 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:37 pm to
Grew up leveling bins.

Just damn
Posted by Spankum
The Sip
Member since Jan 2007
62013 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:50 pm to
Condolences on the loss of your friend. I used to train firemen and one time they asked me to sit through some training they had on grain bin rescue. Unfortunately,there is not a real effecient way to rescue someone out of one of those bins. To make matters worse, they are typically located in areas where the only fire service is volunteer. Lucky no firefighters were hurt trying to do that rescue.

Again…..sorry for your friend.
Posted by Missouri Waltz
Adrift off the Spanish Main
Member since Feb 2016
1436 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:52 pm to
quote:

I ponder, if he was a farmer and main breadwinner. Will the family be ok? Or will the farm cease?

He was a farmer. He worked hard all his life, did well, lived frugally, and left his wife in good shape. The farm will go on. He once told me that he structured his estate so that his daughter can never sell it.
Posted by Zap Rowsdower
MissLou, La
Member since Sep 2010
16124 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 7:57 pm to
I hate anytime I’ve got to get in one. That’s got to be one of the absolute scariest/worst ways to go out. I would get in them and hopper bottoms all the time when I was younger and never thought anything of it. It’s crazy to look back and see how reckless and stupid that was. Prayers for you and your friend’s family. May he rest in peace. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help the family.

quote:

I counted responders from seven different jurisdictions and can honestly say that I have never seen a bigger clown show in my life. They had no idea what they were doing. They made it up as they went along and it took them hours to recover the body. Not that it mattered because by the time you realize someone is missing in a grain tank it is already too late. Nonetheless, you still try and give it all you have. With an acetylene torch, pry bar, and six men with scoop shovels I could have emptied that tank in thirty minutes


It’s hard to believe how little training first responders in rural areas have on this kind of thing, but it’s definitely lacking all over. Farm Bureau sponsored some grain bin rescue classes in a few places throughout north Louisiana and Mississippi this past winter and early spring. To my knowledge that was the first I’ve ever seen of anything like that. I know when it happens that there’s only so much can be done and it’s a next to impossible rescue unless help is there almost immediately but at least outreach and classes are a step in the right direction.
This post was edited on 4/23/26 at 8:00 pm
Posted by Missouri Waltz
Adrift off the Spanish Main
Member since Feb 2016
1436 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:01 pm to
quote:

It’s hard to believe how little training first responders in rural areas have on this kind of thing

There were responders from Cape Girardeau County that are reportedly trained in grain bin rescues. You surely would not know that from what I saw this afternoon. Not just them but all the responders present made the Amos and Andy Taxicab Company look like NASA engineers.
Posted by Zap Rowsdower
MissLou, La
Member since Sep 2010
16124 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:13 pm to
quote:

There were responders from Cape Girardeau County that are reportedly trained in grain bin rescues. You surely would not know that from what I saw this afternoon. Not just them but all the responders present made the Amos and Andy Taxicab Company look like NASA engineers.


That’s a damn shame. I’m guessing a lot local VFD too? Not to take anything away from a VFD as I know they’re the only outfit a lot of rural places have and I know a lot of those guys try their hardest to have the best department they can but sometimes they’re just out of their element.
This post was edited on 4/24/26 at 7:32 am
Posted by forkedintheroad
Member since Feb 2025
2185 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:17 pm to
Sorry for your loss but give the first responders some grace. I doubt they are trained on how to handle a person stick in a grain tank. They go slow because what they are trained on repeatedly is not to create more casualties.
Posted by zippyputt
Member since Jul 2005
7041 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:29 pm to
Sorry for your loss. Prayers offered for him and his family.
Posted by Missouri Waltz
Adrift off the Spanish Main
Member since Feb 2016
1436 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:41 pm to
quote:

I’m guessing a lot local VFD too?

No there wasn't, but had there been they would have done a better job. They would have had farm experience and known what to do.

This was not my first rodeo. I helped shovel a man out of a grain tank when I was in high school. All you have to do is cut holes in the tank below the grain line. The you have men shovel grain away from the tank on the outside and men shovel toward the holes on the inside. It is not rocket science.

The guys today cut holes above the grain line and used a hand drill operated auger. They had an Agri-Vac that runs off of a tractor PTO but none of them knew how to start it.
Posted by Chipand2Putts
trembling hills
Member since Apr 2012
1801 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:47 pm to
Sorry for your loss.
You said yourself that your friend was negligent, yet the majority of your posts are placing blame on those sent to get him out of the situation he put himself in.
Who’s to blame here?
Posted by Missouri Waltz
Adrift off the Spanish Main
Member since Feb 2016
1436 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 8:56 pm to
From what I can tell he was negligent and almost certainly dead before any rescue efforts even started. However, I was appalled by the incompetence of the "professionals."
This post was edited on 4/23/26 at 8:59 pm
Posted by Relham10
Ridge
Member since Jan 2013
21094 posts
Posted on 4/23/26 at 9:00 pm to
quote:

With an acetylene torch
sorry for your loss but I'm not sure this is the route you want to take on a grain silo
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