Vacuum Trucks Prove Valuable in Iowa Grain Bin Rescue

Trucks helped move massive amounts of corn covering trapped farm worker

Vacuum Trucks Prove Valuable in Iowa Grain Bin Rescue

(Photos from Cedar Rapids Fire Department)

Interested in Trucks?

Get Trucks articles, news and videos right in your inbox! Sign up now.

Trucks + Get Alerts

Vacuum trucks aren’t only useful for things like potholing underground utilities or cleaning sewers. Recently, they were a valuable part of a rescue operation in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Darrell Benish got trapped inside a large grain bin containing corn.

“I was trying to push the auger in with my foot and it slipped,” Benish told local TV station KCRG. “The suction sucked me in there, and nobody saw what happened. It felt like my leg was being crushed by a vice with all the pressure from the corn.”

Benish was covered up to his shoulders for about two hours. First responders successfully employed specialized isolation panels to isolate Benish and prevent more corn from completely covering him.

“I couldn’t even breathe,” Benish said. “They put that insert around me to keep the corn from covering my body, but it was the most pain I’ve felt in my life.”

First responders cut four holes in the side of the bin to release as much corn as possible. That’s where vacuum trucks courtesy of Cedar Rapids Public Works also came in for an assist. The trucks were used to gradually remove the corn trapping Benish and eventually free him.



Discussion

Comments on this site are submitted by users and are not endorsed by nor do they reflect the views or opinions of COLE Publishing, Inc. Comments are moderated before being posted.