SHEPHERD, MI — Trapped in a grain bin, an Isabella County farmer nearly found himself buried alive in corn but managed to evade death thanks to the efforts of firefighters.
Just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24, Shepherd police officers responded to a call of a man trapped inside a corn-filled grain bin at a family farm in the 11000 block of South Shepherd Road.
A person at the farm called 911.
“This is a life or death situation,” police wrote on the department’s Facebook page. “This is also not our everyday call, nor are we equipped with the tools and training to handle it.”
Fortunately for police and the man in the bin, Shepherd Tri-Township firefighters also responded to the scene.
Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department Capt. Brad Doepker said the farmer had been in the approximately 18-feet tall bin to remove clumps of bridged corn.
“At the time, the auger was on,” Doepker said. “When he freed the corn, it basically pulled him and the board he was on down into the corn in the center of the bin.”
Firefighters arrived and climbed the bin’s exterior ladder. On looking inside the bin, they saw the man buried up to his neck in corn, Doepker said.
“His hands and the lower parts of his arms were out of the corn,” Doepker said. “He was talking to us and we were able to get a rope to him. He got it around his back and under his arms, so we had a kind of cinch mechanism to secure him to keep him from going any deeper.”
Mount Pleasant Public Safety firefighters and their Technical Rescue Group also responded to the scene, bringing a ladder truck to serve as an anchor point above the bin. Firefighters also stopped by Mitchell’s Gourmet Deli & Market, 197 E. Wright Ave., to pick up some flat bread crates for rescuers to lower into the bin and walk on.
“They stop the corn from moving while we walk on it,” Doepker said.
Firefighters work to rescue a man who became trapped in a corn-filled grain bin in Shepherd on Feb. 24, 2021.
Doepker and a Technical Rescue Group member entered the bin on the crates and put a four-sided rescue box around the victim. They then hand-scooped corn out of the box until they could extract the man through the bin’s top side, Doepker said.
The man remained conscious and ambulatory on being rescued. He was taken to an area hospital, though Doepker could not comment on any injuries the man may have suffered.
Doepker lauded the teamwork among the rescuers involved, and gave a special shout-out to Mitchell’s for contributing the bread crates.
“Those kinds of support are vitally important to a small-town community,” the captain said.
The Shepherd Police Department also commended their firefighting peers.
“Although they’d probably never admit it, they were absolute heroes today and saved a life,” the department posted on its Facebook page. “Police officers and firefighters enjoy a healthy banter back and forth. They like to make jokes about us and doughnuts and we often remind them that rain can do their job. But, we consider them our brothers and sisters and are honored to serve with them!”
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The Link LonkFebruary 24, 2021 at 03:00PM
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Firefighters rescue man from corn-filled grain bin in Isabella County - MLive.com
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