By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

WANATAH, Ind. — Steve Wettschurack was adamant in his presentation to firefighters and EMTs: “There is absolutely no reason to get into a grain bin while it’s running. Ever.”

Wettschurack, a firefighter, farmer and farm accident rescue instructor for Purdue University, was at the Pinney-Purdue Agricultural Center in Wanatah June 9 explaining to first responders what they could expect if they were ever called to a farm.

In all, 26 emergency responders from half a dozen departments listened as Wettschurack explained that grain bin entrapments have been on the rise in recent years. A variety of reasons were given, including more on-farm storage than ever, along with efforts to move out-of-condition or moldy corn from a storage bin.
Those efforts, said Wettschurack, can lead to large clumps of corn (45 percent of all entrapments involve corn) falling down onto a farmer and trapping him or covering him in grain.

An average of between 15-20 documented entrapments a year have been reported over the last four decades and, said Wettschurack, 55 percent of them were fatal. He added that not all entrapments are reported, and that’s something he wants to change in order to get a better handle on the problem.

Most entrapments have been in the Midwest, with Indiana leading the way with 124. Iowa is next with 104, then Minnesota with 61, Wisconsin, 41 and Illinois, 41.

Wettschurack worked on a farm until he was 32, when his dad passed away. He’s also been a firefighter on the Otterbein Volunteer Fire Department near Lafayette for 38 years, spending 20 years as chief.

“Accidents continue to grow in Indiana and the Midwest,” said Wettschurack.

As a firefighter in a rural community, Wettschurack said it’s imperative that departments prepare for any kind of emergency, including calls to farms and commercial grain elevators for entrapment.

Although farm injuries from tractor rollovers are much more common than entrapments, Wettschurack entrapments are more dramatic and draw much more media attention because of the huge rescue effort that takes place.

That’s what happened last year when a farmer near Lapel was trapped in a grain bin and the rescue effort was shown live on Indianapolis TV. Gov. Mitch Daniels watched and decided afterwards that farm rescue training needed to be a priority.

Daniels contacted Purdue University and people in the agriculture department who knew of Wettschurack’s longtime training efforts contacted him. Now he’s traveling all over the state presenting seminars to firefighters.

When Wettschurack was 10 years old and living on a farm, he climbed to the top of an old wooden-slat corn crib where whole ears of corn were stored. He was watching as the summer help of high school and college students were pushing corn down a chute inside the crib.

When the ears became jammed, they began jumping on them and the whole pile collapsed, covering three of the four workers. Wettschurack said the farmer didn’t know what happened and because of the noise of the machinery, couldn’t hear their cries for help.

He was only 10, but he knew enough to run up to the auger and turn it off.

“The farmer was mad at me at first,” said Wettschurack, but when he realized what happened, the young workers were dug out. “They were all safe, but they didn’t want to go back into a corn crib again.”

It’s an episode that has stayed with Wettschurack, and while he doesn’t know if that is what triggered his interest in farm safety, the memory remains vivid decades later.

According to Purdue University statistics, nearly 800 fatal and non-fatal grain entrapment cases have been recorded nationwide since 1964.

There were 38 cases last year, up from 34 in 2008 and 33 in 2007. It was the highest since 1993 when there were 42.

Wettschurack called that upward trend “disturbing.”

“The condition of the corn last fall, combined with the length of the harvest, created a sense of urgency for farmers to get the grain out of the fields,” said Wettschurack. “Farmers are now having trouble getting that moldy and caked grain out of the bins, which has the potential to cause entrapments and suffocations.”

He said farmers entering a grain bin can become quickly engulfed in grain, making rescues challenging. Wettschurack said that within 15 seconds, a farmer can be buried waist deep, and in 30 seconds, he can be completely buried.

“In many fire and rescue organizations, there can be a high turnover rate, and many of the rescuers have little farm experience. This type of extrication is different from any other rescue.”

During his presentation, Wettschurack detailed the complexity of grain bin rescues, how such a rescue can be just as dangerous to first responders and then provided hands-on training that included a mock rescue and the use of cutting tools on materials used to build grain bins.

Doug Klausig, a firefighter with the Monterey Volunteer Fire Department, said he signed up for the program to learn more about farm emergencies.

“It’s more of a preventative measure,” said Klausig, who has not had to respond to a grain bin entrapment in his 21 years on the department.

Vince Vargo, a firefighter on the Edwardsburg, Mich., Fire Department, described his attendance as “preventative.” He was accompanied by Jesse Bement, who said he wanted to be prepared in case a call ever came in. A farmer in nearby Berrien County, Mich., died last year as the result of a grain bin entrapment.
“There are so many farm kids out there and you don’t know what they can get into,” said Bement. “I’m a father and you never know what your kids might want to explore.”

Curious children have been entrapped in grain bins and been caught in farm equipment, said Wettschurack. Making sure responders have the proper training for the unique circumstances they will find on a farm can mean the difference between life and death.

“No two grain bins are the same,” said Wettschurack. “They’re laid out differently, they’re usually different sizes, and since they’re put up at different times, they’re probably wired differently.”

Knowing where electrical shutoffs are and what each piece of equipment – from augers to fans – does, is vital, he said.

“It used to be farmers would have 5,000- or 10,000-bushel storage bins and that was plenty. But now farms are getting bigger and it’s not unusual for them to be putting up 100,000-bushel bins – and that used to be considered commercial-sized,” said Wettschurack.
Wettschurack cautioned responders not to rush into a grain bin. He said they need to look around first and know where electric hookups are, where propane tanks are situated, and where augers and other dangerous equipment are.

Once a complete assessment is made, Wettschurack said getting grain out of the bin is vital. He showed them how to cut a triangle opening in order to quickly spill grain from inside.

When the trapped farmer is located, he needs to be given oxygen and the grain kept away from his face. Wettschurack demonstrated how a rescue tube could be assembled around the farmer.

“This is different than anything you’ve done,” said Wettschurack. “You have to remember that these grain bins don’t play fair.”