Life saving accolades were issued to numerous firefighters, city crew and police officers for their actions back in February.
The accolades are well deserved and a true testament to the effort of the firefighters, police and city crews who worked together.
As was noted by Mount Vernon Lisbon police chief Doug Shannon at the presentation, in 75 percent of cases involving a grain bin rescue, the results are not as successful. Part of that comes from dealing with grain itself. As farmer Allan Mallie noted in his own comments, one bushel of grain amounts to 56 pounds, and the grain bin they were working to open for transport had roughly 50,000 bushels of corn pouring out at a steady rate on the four men. It’s easy with that much corn and weight to find yourself caught in very dangerous territory quickly.
And for Mount Vernon Fire Department, it was an all-hands-on deck situation where they called for help from numerous neighboring first responder agencies, knowing time was of the essence and more hands to help dig and unbury men trapped in grain would be a benefit.
Aside from multiple city crews and other first responder agencies, citizens from the community were also bringing items like cat litter buckets, shovels and items first responders could use to move grain.
In the timeline indicated from Shannon, there were moments it seemed very chaotic at the scene, and the crews took measures that truly saved all four men who were buried in grain, including giving a self-contained breathing apparatus and mask to help pressurize a man’s airways from the crushing weight of grain and keep him from panicking to help give the crews more time to unbury him.
The Mount Vernon helpers were honored by the City of Mount Vernon at the March 21 council meeting, and Lisbon will be having a similar ceremony at the April 11 city council meeting.
These volunteers and first responders highlight again the greatness of these communities, willing to help their neighbors in need and put their strength together to turn an accident into a moment of community pride.