Members of the Mount Vernon Fire Department, City of Mount Vernon and Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department were honored for their lifesaving efforts Friday, Feb. 18, at the Monday, March 21, city council meeting.
Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police officer Jeff Frankfurt, Mount Vernon fire department members assistant chief Derek Boren, fire captain Mehrdad Zarifkar, Jayden Casey, Tim Keegan, Mark Krob, Todd Weaver, Cliff Weaver, Peter Weber and City of Mount Vernon crew Eldon Downs, Matt Plotz, Dean Smyth, Donnie Feddersen and Dustin Burnett earned lifesaving awards from the City of Mount Vernon at the ceremony.
The members of the numerous departments were being commended for lifesaving measures taken at a grain bin in rural Mount Vernon.
“I was the guy whose life you saved that day,” said Jared Youngblut, of Lisbon, holding back tears. “From the bottom of my heart, my wife, and my three sons, thank you so much.”
Allan Mallie, one of the other men saved from the grain, had done the math on the amount of grain firefighters and crews were dealing with. The elevator stored 50,000 bushels of grain, with a bushel weighing 56 pounds.
“That was roughly 1,400 tons of grain that was inside that bin and flowing down on top of us,” Mallie said. “The community of volunteers and first responders was more powerful than that.”
Shaun Lambertsen of Martelle, another of the four men buried in the grain, spoke about the experience.
“I saw God’s fingers everywhere in the lifesaving measures taken at the grain bin that day,” Lambertsen said. “From those first responders who arrived and contacted emergency services, to the firefighters from several communities who helped unbury us.”
Lambertsen remembered that he had been reassured by a firefighter he knew as they were digging him out of the grain that everything would be okay, and that reassurance and face he knew was what truly helped him get through the ordeal.
Police chief Doug Shannon recounted the experience from first responders. Police officer Jeff Frankfurt was the first emergency responder who arrived upon scene, and climbed into the corn pile to help assist two of the men who were trying to rescue Mallie and Youngblut buried deeper in the grain.
The Mount Vernon firefighters who arrived started setting up barricades around the buried victims to help reduce the continual flow of grain onto them, and allow the crews to start work. Within minutes of arrival, Lambertsen and Matt Hayek were both rescued from the grain.
By 10:05 a.m., roughly 35 minutes after crews arrived, Mallie was rescued from the grain.
Crews were able to get to Youngblut’s face, and chose to connect him to a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to help him maintain oxygen and breath as crews continued to dig him out.
After 75 minutes on scene, all four men were successfully extricated. Youngblut was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“If not for the quick actions and resiliency of Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Officer Jeff Frankfurt, Linn County Sheriff’s deputies, Mount Vernon Fire Department volunteers, Lisbon Fire Department volunteers, public works employees of Lisbon and Mount Vernon, along with numerous other emergency responders from several other agencies working the scene, it is very likely the man most severely entrapped would not have survived this incident,” Shannon said. “Because of their actions in this incident, I am awarding Officer Jeff Frankfurt with the Life Saving commendation award for the act of saving a life on February 18.”
Fire chief Nathan Goodlove said that the firefighters’ training for grain bin rescues was important in this rescue, as was the immediacy of response from several additional agencies.
“I have to commend the public works crews in Mount Vernon that when we made a call out for a skidloader, they didn’t even question, but were en route to our location,” Goodlove said. “That fleet of city vehicles really helped with moving the grain.”
Boren, who served as incident commander during the lifesaving event, commended the response from crews from so many neighboring towns.
“Everywhere I looked that day, I had well trained individuals in large numbers I could direct to help us with digging these men out of the corn or what needed to be done,” Boren said. “The support from community members as well, providing items in the rescue efforts was needed.”
Members of the Mount Vernon Fire department honored with lifesaving awards include: (from left) Peter Weber, Cliff Weaver, Todd Weaver, Mark Krob, Tim Keegan, Jayden Casey, fire captain Mehrdad Zaifkar and assistant chief Derek Boren.