Illinois Company Makes Rescue Equipment For Grain Bins

A company in northwestern Illinois has developed a device for rescuing workers trapped in grain bins.

The (Sterling) Daily Gazette reports Eastland Fabrication in Lanark makes a piece of equipment called the Great Wall of Rescue.

They've been working on the technology since 2010, when two teenagers died in a grain bin in nearby Mount Carroll.

Eastland sponsors demonstrations of its grain-bin rescue technique. A victim who sinks to knee level in a grain cave-in can't get out without help from rescuers because of the force of the grain. The Great Wall of Rescue creates a barrier and reduces the pressure.

The University of Illinois Extension tells farm operators to stay out of grain bins whenever possible and to wear a harness attached to a properly secured rope.