03-05-2025
Patoka Township firefighters show how they rescue people in grain bins
PRINCETON, Ind. (WEHT) — Every year, there are a number of farmers who get stuck in grain bins — and some do not make it out alive.
Here in the Tri-State, Patoka Township firefighters are one of the several agencies that have tools to save lives.
Only three people have been rescued from a grain bin in Gibson County within the last 20 years. Patoka firefighters are offering a rescue demonstration on how they save lives when disaster strikes, however.
Outside the USDA-Gibson County Farm Service Agency, Patoka Township firefighters say some farmers are likely to become stuck once grain is wet and cannot feed correctly.
That grain may crust — and if a farmer breaks the top — they will find themselves stuck with nowhere to go. If they struggle, they will only sink themselves deeper, creating a lot more pressure.
'You got extremely large bins at a large number of farms with a lot of grain and a lot of weight. So, the more pressure you put on someone — kind of imagine a hug — someone squeezes you tighter and tighter when they're giving you a hug, it's going to be harder to breathe, harder to move, everything like that,' says Patoka Township Firefighter Sam Hagerty.
Firefighter Dillion Murray demonstrates being waist deep in grain. If the grain were at stomach level, breathing would be incredibly difficult, and he would continue to sink.
That's why time is of the essence.
After getting information like how long the person has been inside, these firefighters will put in a rescue tube and auger to push out the grain, corn or soybeans.
Though Firefighter Murray can pull himself out in knee deep of grain, it's already a tiring task.
To prevent emergencies, Patoka Township Firefighters recommend farmers letting others know that they'll be working on grain bins when going out.
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