Farmers Run for Their Lives from Massive Grain Silo Collapse
Power lines were damaged but no one was harmed by the harrowing collapse.
Watseka Fire Department
Farmers in Iroquois County, Illinois, escaped with their lives after massive grain bin explosively collapsed Wednesday afternoon. Harrowing video taken by the Watseka Fire Department shows farmers and safety personnel running from the silo and an enormous cloud of grain dust as the bin crumbled, hitting a power line on the way down. The silo, located in the small town of Wasteka 90 miles south of Chicago, contained over 30,000 bushels of soy beans, according to the Iroquois County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). The Watseka Fire Department happened to be on the scene for an EMS call when they noticed a structural issue with the bin. The firefighters evacuated the area and the bin collapsed just one hour later. They reported no lives were lost. The area suffered a power outage due to the collapse, but power returned by Thursday, according to local officials. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation.
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