OSAKIS — The Osakis Fire Department was called to a silo fire at the Tom Grundman farm, 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, south of Osakis, Saturday, Feb. 4, shortly before noon.
The call came in at 11:37 a.m. that a silo filled with corn was on fire. Shortly after the Osakis Fire Department arrived at the scene, two other departments were called in for mutual aid – Alexandria and Villard.
Because of gasses building up in the silo, the top exploded off shortly after the Osakis Fire Department arrived on the scene. Two fire trucks were struck by the top of the silo. One of the trucks is now out of commission, but the other is still operational. Osakis Fire Chief Craig Dropik said that fortunately there were no serious injuries. One firefighter was brought to the hospital to get checked out, he said. The firefighter was released shortly after, the chief said on Monday.
Grundman, a former Osakis School Board member, was helping out firefighters by hauling smoldering corn from the silo in his skid loader. After dumping it in a pile, he would then cover it with snow taken from nearby snowbanks.
He added that firefighters worked on the fire until almost 8 p.m. that evening. The fire is believed to have started from a bearing going out in the bottom of the silo, said Dropik.
Assisting at the scene included Osakis First Responders, North Memorial Ambulance and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
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