Teen rescued from grain elevator
Published: October 22, 2005
A teenager was rescued this morning after falling into an abandoned seven-story Con Agra grain elevator near Thomas and Glenwood Avenues North in Minneapolis.
Bryan Eric Anderson, 18, of Robbinsdale, survived, apparently not seriously hurt, after falling about 70 feet.
“There’s no explaining why the person wasn’t killed when he fell,” said Minneapolis Fire Deputy Chief Scott Craigie.
That was echoed later this morning by Minneapolis police spokesman Ron Reier. “We expected to find a dead body at the bottom of this grain elevator,” he said. “But he left the building conscious and was moving.”
Minneapolis and Edina fire departments with heavy rescue units responded shortly after receiving a call around 2 a.m. today from one of the friends of Anderson, Reier said, adding, “he was old enough to know better.”
About a half-dozen people had gotten into the elevator, Reier said.
“It was an interesting rescue because there was only one way in and one way out and that was the way the young man fell in,” Craigie said. Craigie also said it was unknown if the hole in the top of the elevator where the teen fell through was due to damage or if it was a normal hatch.
Craigie said authorities sent two rescuers and two paramedics into the elevator to examine Anderson.
“He was responsive and our assessment was that he didn’t suffer any broken bones,” said Craigie.
Rescuers had to use a wire stretcher to pull the teen out, “This stretcher is more rigid than most. It’s designed so the person in it doesn’t roll out,” said Craigie.
Reier said grain still stored in the bottom of the elevator “is probably what saved this person’s life.” He called members of the rescue crew “heroes. What they did was miraculous.”
The teen was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center but the extent of his injuries was unknown.
His troubles may not be over. Police investigators are trying to determine whether criminal charges will be filed against him or other members of the group.
Such charges could range from trespassing, a misdemeanor, to burglary, a felony, Reier said.
“The fact is this building is posted and they did not belong here,” he said. “This was trespassing, entering a building that is not very safe. There’s quite likely going to be charges. This is not very safe.”
Neighbors said the area is a popular teen hangout. Grafitti covers the building, as high as the silo. Beer cans are strewn around the property and many of the building’s windows have been broken out.
“From all that grafitti, it’s fairly obvious it all wasn’t done just last night,” Reier said.
Grain elevators have long been dangerous places in the city. In 1965, a 14-year-old boy died when he fell from the top of an elevator in south Minneapolis, the site of two earlier injuries. That structure was eventually torn down.
“You can’t tear every building in town down” Reier said. “They’ll just end up going somewhere else.”
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