Grain Elevator Death
I worked with this guy while I worked for "The Evil Empire".
Arrogance is kin to ignorance. At ADM he was a merchandiser (grain buyer) with no experience in operations but thought he knew it all.
Never enter a grain bin while it is being emptied. Use a lifeline and body harness. Country elevators have the same hazards that river terminals and export houses face.
http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/articles/2007/09/25/news/730acounty.txt
Access Ag Inc., grain elevators in Mazon and Ransom are closed today, following the accidental suffocation of company manager and CEO Sean Garkey.
Deputy Grundy County Coroner Phyllis Dralle pronounced Garkey, 33, of Ottawa, dead at the scene at 4:58 a.m. today.
The accident took place at the company's grain bin at 2490 Grand Ridge Road, about two miles west of Mazon, at about 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti said Garkey and James Knox of Ransom were unloading grain at the time from a large bin more than half full of soybeans.
When the flow of grain stopped during the unloading process, the two went to the top of the bin to look for the problem.
Knox told deputies he was pulled into the bin by the flow of grain, but that Garkey freed him from the suction.
Garkey was then pulled into the bin on top of the flow of grain, Knox indicated.
Rescuers opened a door at the bottom of the bin, but were not able to pull Garkey from the grain in time to save his life, the sheriff said.
"They were opening the doors, trying to get the grain out of there and get to him," said Marketti. "That's the usual way of doing it."
Responding to the scene with deputies were several area fire departments and ambulance crews, including the Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Ambulance.
Marketti said a couple similar incidents occurred in the past in Grundy County, including one in a grain bin just east of Mazon.
"Same type of incident," he said. "The victim fell into the bin and suffocated in the grain."
He said a couple similar incidents also have taken place in which the people were successfully rescued.
Garkey was instrumental in the $3 million railroad shuttle loading facility constructed in late 2003 by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad at Ransom Farmers Elevator in Ransom.
The Ransom and Mazon facilities combined in 2004 to form Access Ag Inc., with Garkey - former manager of the Ransom facility - serving as the CEO.
The new company has about 27 employees, and about 2,000 stockholders.
A large operation, Access Ag trades in about 20 million bushels of grain annually, mostly corn and soybeans, and more than 10,000 tons of agriculture products, such as fertilizer, farm chemicals, and seed.
The Ransom railroad shuttle loading operation was the first innovative program of its kind in Illinois.
Garkey noted at the time the program is so efficient the elevator can load a 110-car train with 434,000 bushels of locally-grown grain within a 15-hour span.
The accident Monday occurred on the heels of National Farm Safety Week, which ended Saturday, Sept. 22.
Country Insurance and Financial Services noted 22-farm related deaths occurred between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. The number was 10 fewer fatalities than the previous year.
Arrogance is kin to ignorance. At ADM he was a merchandiser (grain buyer) with no experience in operations but thought he knew it all.
Never enter a grain bin while it is being emptied. Use a lifeline and body harness. Country elevators have the same hazards that river terminals and export houses face.
http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/articles/2007/09/25/news/730acounty.txt
Access Ag Inc., grain elevators in Mazon and Ransom are closed today, following the accidental suffocation of company manager and CEO Sean Garkey.
Deputy Grundy County Coroner Phyllis Dralle pronounced Garkey, 33, of Ottawa, dead at the scene at 4:58 a.m. today.
The accident took place at the company's grain bin at 2490 Grand Ridge Road, about two miles west of Mazon, at about 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti said Garkey and James Knox of Ransom were unloading grain at the time from a large bin more than half full of soybeans.
When the flow of grain stopped during the unloading process, the two went to the top of the bin to look for the problem.
Knox told deputies he was pulled into the bin by the flow of grain, but that Garkey freed him from the suction.
Garkey was then pulled into the bin on top of the flow of grain, Knox indicated.
Rescuers opened a door at the bottom of the bin, but were not able to pull Garkey from the grain in time to save his life, the sheriff said.
"They were opening the doors, trying to get the grain out of there and get to him," said Marketti. "That's the usual way of doing it."
Responding to the scene with deputies were several area fire departments and ambulance crews, including the Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Ambulance.
Marketti said a couple similar incidents occurred in the past in Grundy County, including one in a grain bin just east of Mazon.
"Same type of incident," he said. "The victim fell into the bin and suffocated in the grain."
He said a couple similar incidents also have taken place in which the people were successfully rescued.
Garkey was instrumental in the $3 million railroad shuttle loading facility constructed in late 2003 by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad at Ransom Farmers Elevator in Ransom.
The Ransom and Mazon facilities combined in 2004 to form Access Ag Inc., with Garkey - former manager of the Ransom facility - serving as the CEO.
The new company has about 27 employees, and about 2,000 stockholders.
A large operation, Access Ag trades in about 20 million bushels of grain annually, mostly corn and soybeans, and more than 10,000 tons of agriculture products, such as fertilizer, farm chemicals, and seed.
The Ransom railroad shuttle loading operation was the first innovative program of its kind in Illinois.
Garkey noted at the time the program is so efficient the elevator can load a 110-car train with 434,000 bushels of locally-grown grain within a 15-hour span.
The accident Monday occurred on the heels of National Farm Safety Week, which ended Saturday, Sept. 22.
Country Insurance and Financial Services noted 22-farm related deaths occurred between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. The number was 10 fewer fatalities than the previous year.
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sorry to hear this Capt.
a guy i knew younger than me died in a grain bin several years ago..... corn was bridged up he got in it and got buried and died
also another guy with same elevator fell off a rail car while they was moving it and got a leg cut off.0 -
The bad cop in the movie "Witness" died, buried in a grain elevator. Bad way to go. 0 -
...Too many people don't realize that bins empty "inside out"....last grain in, on top, comes out first. Think of an hourglass.
...These things happen all too often when farmers hire kids to help them. We had a 12 yr. old die in this manner, just down the road from our elevator. We hurried down there with our grain vac, but it was too late. Another time, a man in his 60's was buried to his shoulders, just as his feet landed on the sweep auger motor. The FD cut holes while we vac'ed the beans away. Saved that one.
...Once you're in past the knees, there is NO way to pull out. You're going down.0 -
quote:Rescuers opened a door at the bottom of the bin, but were not able to pull Garkey from the grain in time to save his life, the sheriff said.
"They were opening the doors, trying to get the grain out of there and get to him," said Marketti. "That's the usual way of doing it."
quote:Too many people don't realize that bins empty "inside out"....last grain in, on top, comes out first. Think of an hourglass.
Which is why the above is the WRONG thing to do. Opening a door at the bottom of the bin will only INCREASE the draw and suction.0 -
"When the flow of grain stopped during the unloading process, the two went to the top of the bin to look for the problem.
Knox told deputies he was pulled into the bin by the flow of grain, but that Garkey freed him from the suction."
Is this saying that the guy deliberately stood on top of the grain? Why would he do that?
I am interested in this story because my grandfather ran an elevator in Ree Heights South Dakota during the Depression.0 -
THE ELEVATOR IN REE HEIGHTS STILL RUNS ALLEN GRIGGS. SAD STORY....KNOW OF 3 PEOPLE IN THE LAST 15 YEARS THAT PERISHED THAT WAY.... 0 -
Hey Dennis:
My grandad's elevator is the one on the north side of the tracks. When I was up there 8 years ago it was shut down, but the other one was running.0 -
I heard of fire dept. cutting large holes in bins to get people trapped out. They usually just recover a body. It always made me nervous when I was a kid to climb into a bin until the center of the grain was down to the floor. 0 -
I took a class on grain elevator rescue several years ago. The instructor explained it is much harder to survive in grain than in sand or dirt because the grain interlocks itself together like pieces in a puzzle. 0 -
I've had to clean out three feet of crap on the bottom of sloped grain bin floors with the brass pick ax. Were the stuff would flow through a gate. I've entered bins on a bos-n-chair from a tripod and winch, but I would never enter a grain bin that is being drawn down or a bin with a known problem and a potential for a bridged condition.
That being said, this did give me a momment to reflect on some things that I have down and corners that were cut.0 -
had a twelve year old get in wheat bin & sucked down here years ago...unhooked tractor & ripped side of bin open with loader but to late....bad deal....things can happen so quick 0
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