Trapped in corn: rescue crews race to free man from Indiana grain bin

The two-and-a-half-hour rescue, about two and a half hours from Louisville, pulled in crews from multiple counties.

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A farmer's night took a terrifying turn Wednesday when he became trapped inside a grain bin near Belle Union, Indiana- about two and a half hours northwest of Louisville in Putnam County- setting off a rescue effort that pulled in fire crews from multiple counties and took more than two hours to pull off.

Here's what makes grain bin rescues so nerve-wracking: flowing grain doesn't act like solid ground. It behaves more like quicksand, pulling a person down and packing in around them the more they struggle. It's one of the most dangerous calls a fire department can get, and it's exactly why this one turned into such a big production.

According to the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Department, two crews headed to the scene carrying the department's Grain Rescue Tube- a specialized piece of equipment built specifically for situations like this one. They arrived to help Jefferson Township and Greencastle Fire, who were already on scene working the entrapment. Multiple other agencies were dispatched to help.

It took nearly two and a half hours of careful work before crews finally got him out, freeing him around 9:30 p.m. Through it all, Cloverdale Township Fire says the man stayed awake and alert. He was taken to the hospital afterward, and Plainfield Fire Territory reports he was in stable condition.

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