Video Captures IL Firefighters Running as Grain Silo Collapses

Firefighters and others made a mad dash as a grain silo came crashing down.

EMS personnel were on a separate call in Martinon when a paramedic happened to look in the bin’s direction. They saw a bulge forming in the bin’s concrete and rebar.

“While we were on that run, we were advised that there was a potential for implosion of a grain bin here in town,” Bruce Lane, EMS Coordinator with the Papineau Fire Protection District, told WCIA. 

The crew quickly informed Martinton’s Fire Chief Jeff Meyer. Firefighters set up a safety area, evacuated Donovan employees, notified utility companies and requested help from Papineau and Watseka fire companies.

“The original plan was to unload the bin behind the collapse bin so that the elevator could transfer the grain into there,” Lane said.

Unloading of the grain bin in distress continued until 12:45 p.m., when the soybeans inside suddenly shifted. They realized the grain bin was in imminent danger of collapse.

Seven minutes later, the 90-foot-tall bin with 1.8 millio pounds of soybeans, came crashing down.

Firefighters and others ran to escape. Luckily, they all did.

“First thing that runs through your head is your own personal safety, right? Secondary, was everyone else’s safety. So we immediately established accountability.”