1 farmer killed and another severely injured in partially empty soybean grain bin

(Satellite)

Facebook Reel

"One person was killed and another was injured in a grain bin accident in Illinois. First responders were called Monday afternoon to a farm in Putnam County, according to a release from the Hennepin and Granville fire departments. One man was found trapped up to his chest in soybeans. Authorities said the man was rescued using a rescue tube, an auger and a rescue grain vacuum system. He was airlifted to a Peoria hospital, but information about his condition was not available. Rescue crews worked in shifts to remove soybeans. After searching for more than two hours, first responders found the second person dead at the bottom of the grain bin. The victim has not been publicly identified." [Jan 28, 2026, kxii]

This is the fire department release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grain Bin Rescue, 01-26-2026

Granville Illinois

At approximately 2:18pm the Granville Fire Department along with PC EMS were dispatched for a male who had collapsed and was possibly trapped in a Grain Bin partially filled with soybeans at a farm on 950 North Ave, just south of Granville, IL. Initial reports indicated that a subject may or may not have been trapped inside and another subject may be in the bin as well. As crews were en-route, additional information revealed that a subject was inside the bin and there may be another person in the bin and family was attempting to locate the second subject. Due to the additional information relayed prior to units arriving on scene, a Lifeflight helicopter was requested to the scene as well as additional resources from Hennepin Fire, Standard Fire and the MABAS 25 Technical Rescue Team. Upon arrival on scene, through a side access door, a male subject was found to be in the grain bin in soybeans up to his chest. That subject was able to communicate that another subject had been taking soybeans out of the bin and may or may not have gone in and that they went in to attempt to find the person who had not been seen for some time, but had become trapped and was not sure if there was another person in the bin or not. Based on this information additional resources were requested from Princeton Fire, Cedar Point Fire, Oglesby Fire, 10/33 Ambulance, an additional Lifeflight helicopter to the scene as well as the MABAS 25 Chaplain.

As rescue operations continued, the first subject was rescued from the grain bin using a grain bin rescue tube and auger system as well as a rescue grain vacuum system. The first subject was assisted out of the grain bin and to an ambulance where he was evaluated by the Lifeflight crew and then airlifted at approximately 3:52pm to Peoria for further evaluation and treatment. Currently, we have no information on his condition. After the first subject had been cleared from the bin, an assessment was made and the grain vacuum was deployed for a methodical search of the bin. Shortly after the search for the second subject began, subject was located near the bottom of the bin and operations shifted to a recovery effort. Rescue crews worked in shifts to remove the soybeans from the bin and recover the second subject. At approximately 4:46pm, the deceased was located and removed from the bin and turned over to the coroner.

Our sympathies go out to the family of the deceased.

All responding personnel were clear of the scene at 5:44pm and we note that no responding personnel were injured during the rescue and recovery operations. We thank all the responders that came to assist the Granville Hennepin Fire District for their hard work and efforts in the response. Thank you to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the telecommunicators for all their hard work and effort in assisting us with the operation. And thank you as well as to Granville Casey's for donating pizza and The Corner Store in Granville for donating coffee for the responders.

Further investigation of the incident will be conducted by the PC Death Investigator.

[Hennepin Fire Department post]