Man Rescued From Grain Bin

By Betsy Finklea
When you are in the business of saving lives having the right equipment and the proper training pays off. This afternoon, the City of Dillon Fire Department, Dillon Rescue Squad, Dillon County EMS, and Dillon County Fire Station Four were sent to a scene where a man was trapped in a grain bin.
In the past, situations like these have not had positive outcomes, but today was different. When the call went out around 2 p.m., first responders knew exactly what to do. They had the right equipment for it, they had trained for it, and today’s incident put that preparation into action. Using Dillon Rescue Squad’s rescue auger and rescue tube, the departments worked together to save a man trapped in the bin. The man had actually been in the grain bin and had tried to get himself out, but it was up to his waistline, so rescue agencies were eventually called.
City of Dillon Fire Chief Keith Bailey, who was part of the rescue, explained that first responders place panels like a tube around the victim and use the auger to suck the grain out. First responders had just trained on this subject in November thinking and hoping that they would never have to use it, but today they put that training to use.
It took about two and a half hours to extract the man, who was flown to the hospital. The man was conscious and was being taken to the hospital to be checked out. Bailey said he thinks the man will be okay.
Bailey said this was a joint effort and everyone worked well together for a positive outcome.

A photo of the grain bin training in November.
(Photo by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon County News, LLC)