Massive Grain Bin Collapse in Martinton Spills 1.8 Million Pounds of Soybeans, Impacting Local Agriculture

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A grain bin in Martinton, Illinois, dramatically collapsed on Wednesday, sending ripples through the small Iroquois County village.

Emergency responders reported that the incident occurred at about 1 p.m. at the Donovan Farmers’ Cooperative site in Martinton. The 90-foot grain bin, a structure dating back to 1972, gave way, disgorging over 30,000 bushels of soybeans, equating to approximately 1.8 million pounds.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported, but the collapse left the village without power until Thursday morning.

“We’re prepared to face this challenge,” said Tim Wilhelmi, who owns Barnyard Tap, on Wednesday night. “It’s going to be a long night ahead.”

UPDATE: Power has been restored in Martinton following the grain bin collapse.

“While we were on that run, we were advised that there was a potential for implosion of a grain bin here in town,” Lane said.

The medical personnel quickly informed Martinton’s Fire Chief, Jeff Meyer, and first responders immediately got to work. They set up a safety area, evacuated Donovan employees, notified utility companies and requested help from Papineau and Watseka.

“The original plan was to unload the bin behind the collapse bin so that the elevator could transfer the grain into there,” Lane said.

Unloading of the grain bin in distress continued until 12:45 p.m., when the soybeans inside suddenly shifted. Realizing the grain bin was in imminent danger of collapse, first responders evacuated.

Seven minutes later, the grain bin came crashing down.

“First thing that runs through your head is your own personal safety, right?” Lane said. “Secondary was everyone else’s safety, so we immediately established accountability.”

Lane said that thankfully, no one was hurt. In the aftermath of the collapse, Chief Meyer requested additional assistance from Ashkum Fire and a standby ambulance from Riverside.

Lane and his team, meanwhile, made sure the collapse of one grain bin didn’t lead to something worse.

“Right now, we’re mitigating the next hazard, which is the grain leg that’s a little bent; that’s what we’ve got a crane in place,” said Lane, “The grain elevator [company] contacted some structural engineers, supposed to be following through with that, make sure there’s no additional hazard.”

As the grain bin collapsed, debris landed on the main structure of nearby powerlines and poles that supplied electricity to the entire village. About 170 people were left without power.

Barnyard Tap was among the customers and businesses left in the dark.

“I got oil lamps on the bar. We’re kind of prepared for this. We have some power outage just here and there,” Wilhelmi said. “I’m going to be here all night. I got a generator running out back on the pumps of my power cord between refrigerators and keeping everything cold and safe.”

Ameren estimated that it would take between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursday to restore the power. Power for most of Martinton was restored in that time frame, but Donovan’s facility is still in the dark. Ameren expected to have the facility’s power restored at some point on Thursday and Donovan staff said they hope to be partially up and running in four days.

Meanwhile, Chief Meyer is crediting a paramedic’s observations and actions with preventing an even greater catastrophe.

“Thanks to the observant eye of the ambulance personnel at the original call, we were able to evacuate and secure the area around the silo,” Meyer said in a news release. “This action certainly prevented what may have been life-threatening injuries or even fatalities. I am extremely grateful to the ambulance crew for bringing this situation to my attention.”