Worker rescued from silo
Published: December 1, 2006
A farm worker in his early 20s spent more than three hours trapped in a corn silo with low oxygen levels while some two dozen firefighters from Madison, Deerfield and Cottage Grove worked to free him.
Rescue crews arrived at the farm at 926 Zander Lane, just north of Deerfield, about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Using a system of ropes and pulleys manned by firefighters on top of the silo and on the ground, the man was lifted out - unharmed but weak and a little shook up, firefighters said - shortly after 3 p.m.
“Physically he was fine, but he was getting a little light- headed,” Madison division Chief Ernie Martinez said.
The man climbed into the top of the silo shortly before noon Thursday to try to unclog a jam that developed while he was trying to empty the silo contents through an opening at ground level, Deerfield assistant Fire Chief Scott Mack said.
He got stuck when he was unable to climb out on the ropes he used to get in, about 30 feet below the narrow silo opening. Another worker called 911.
Firefighters said they believe the man became weak due to a lack of oxygen in the silo, which was filled with gas from decaying vegetation, Martinez said. Shifting silage also can bury and suffocate people, but the man avoided that because he tied the ropes to himself before entering the silo.
“That’s what saved him,” Mack said.
The Madison Fire Department’s 13-member Technical Rescue Team handled operations atop the silo. On-call 24 hours a day for Madison and surrounding communities, the team has training for situations such as collapsed buildings, underground accidents or “high-angle rescues” like the one at the silo Thursday, spokesman Eric Dahl said.
The white-helmeted team members used harnesses to lower themselves into the silo on ropes.
Once inside, the rescuers measured the air supply for oxygen content. Alarmed to find only 8 percent oxygen inside the silo - ideally there should be nearly three times that, Martinez said - the team set up a ventilation system to raise the level to about 13 percent and gave the man compressed air to breathe.
Firefighters also brought the man a coat because he was underdressed for the below- freezing temperatures on Thursday, Martinez said.
They then lifted him out with ropes and harnesses and took him to the hospital for treatment.
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