Farmer dies after sinking in grain bin
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/11/2021 (1566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Pembina Valley farmer has died after becoming trapped in a grain bin on his property.
Morden Fire and Rescue Chief Andy Thiessen said crews were called to a farm northeast of the city by a yard worker around 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Thiessen said the farmer, a man in his 60s, had been in the bin for about 15 minutes before it was discovered he had gone beneath the crust of the grain.
About 25 members from both the Morden and Winkler fire and rescue services were sent to the property for a rescue mission.
“It was full and we were hoping that he was at the top,” Thiessen said. “But he wasn’t seen from the top of the bin at all, so we were hoping that he was just under the top portion.”
Crews began cutting into the side of the bin to release the grain in an effort to find the man.
However, Thiessen said within about 30 minutes rescuers determined the farmer had descended into the approximately 45,000 bushel bin and efforts turned into a recovery mission.
Thiessen said it took six hours to recover the body.
“We estimated where he was by some of the signs at the top of the bin, but he had already been drawn to the centre even before we got there,” Thiessen said. “It’s like quick sand. You move a little bit and you sink half a foot, you move a little bit more and it’s over your waist and you just can’t get yourself out on your own.”
Thiessen said he has worked with the fire and rescue department for nearly 40 years and Tuesday was the first time he had to respond to a grain bin accident.
“It is a rare occurrence but we know farmers are doing it on a regular basis,” Thiessen said. “It’s one of those things that didn’t need to happen so that makes it more tragic.”
danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca