Chase, IN: Damaged Grain Bins

(Satellite)

There were several tornadoes identified in Northeastern Indiana that happened Jun 11, 2026. Severe weather tends to happen in Summer, but that is when many bins are empty because room is being made for the next year's harvest.

I think this is the first time I've seen bins ripped completely ripped off their foundation. Normally, "just" one side is caved in.

Chad Evans Weather posted
Chase Elevator (between Boswell & Oxford) in Benton County from severe t'storms last night.  Pic from Christine Byrne.

Jeff Hauert commented on Chad's post
Judyville, IN

Comments on Andy's post
[When I looked at a map of tornadoes that were identified from that storm, the highest I saw was EF3.]

This is one of those towns in the midwest that has a lot more grain bins than houses. The railroad is KB&S/NKP/LE&W.  This is on the LE&W route that went from Sandusky to Peoria.

Satellite

 KB&S is a shortline, but it appears that it does not serve these rather big grain elevators.

Street View, Aug 2024

Street View, Aug 2024

Street View, Aug 2024

I got multiple views trying to verify that the big bin that remained standing was a bolted-steel bin. This view confirms that. Looking at Chad's photo, the bin not only survived the wind, it survived a couple of bins collapsing on it with just a some damage to its roof.

Street View, Aug 2024

Mt. Carmel, IL: A Grain Entrapment Fatality

(Satellite, this is one of the three farms near the intersection given in the article. This one looks like the photo.)

tristatehomepage via a post by Eyewitness News WEHT WTVW
Update: One dead following grain bin entrapment in Wabash County

Greg Poe: I’m no farmer but aren’t you not supposed to go in there?

Steve Robinson: Greg Poe terrible deal whatever happened. A teenage boy died in a bin accident in our neighborhood just a few years ago and a few years before that an elderly man died in a grain bin accident here also. Bad things can happen quick.

Logan Pezzoni: Greg Poe you can, but to comply with osha standards you are supposed to have a confined space permit along with a harness pinned to a secure connection point. A lot of times moisture seeps into the bin and creates a crusty outer shell in the grain and blocks unloading equipment so you’ll have to go in and clear the obstructions. Hope this is informative!

Roger Rush: I've worked for a farmer and done this. The top layer of corn draws moisture and get hard. Then when they are loading trucks an air pocket forms below the crusted grain . The one's I did had a bar that went halfway around the bin I would hang onto it and use my feet to break loose the grain I've seen how fast the grain gets sucked down into the air pocket. It's always so sad to read these stories prayers for the family and friends 🙏 💔

Levi Bridwell: Roger Rush facts.. it's faster than quicksand.

[I've heard of the term "bridge" used for the c rusted grain that creates air pockets. There are several comments on the post about people getting in the bin when they were kids help the grain flow. They now appreciate how lucky they were. There were also several comments about the final cleanout of the bin. That is not the dangerous part because your feet are on the bin's floor, not on a bridge of grain.]

I think this is the farm that had the problem.

Satellite

There is some serious grain storage nearby. These grain operations are larger than many commercial grain elevators. I presume that a local fire department has the equipment needed to rescue a person. In addition to ropes and harnesses for the rescuers, you need a cylinder and grain vacuum to free the engulfed person. Even if the upper part of the body is still out of the grain, you can't just pull on the harness rope of the entrapped person. You have to put a cylinder around the person and then suck out the grain that is around the body and legs. Then you can pull on the harness rope.

Satellite

Satellite

Protection, KS: Grain Elevator Fire

(Satellite)

Storage on the left, a feed mill on the right and an antique in the background.

Street View, May 2012

The railroad was the Sante Fe. The Kansas & Oklahoma (KO) used to operate the railroad east of here. But I see that is now abandoned. The tracks were gone in a 2008 street view.

I see some Purina logos on the building on the right side.

Street View, May 2012

The north side of the antique elevator has a couple of bolted-steel silos.

Street View, Jun 2008

I'm glad I paid attention to the older storage elevator because that is the one that burned.

Bob Summers posted
Forwarded this post received this morning regarding an elevator fire in Protection Kansas.

Wolf Point, MT; Two wood grain elevators, then there was a fire, now there's one

Burnt (East) Elevator: (Satellite)

Other (West) Elevator: (Satellite)

Depot: (Satellite)

Modern Elevator: (Satellite)

Given the steel bins in the photos below, I think the one on the right is the one that burned.

Street View, Nov 2024

Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day posted
[Some comments indicate it has not been used for over 10 years. The fire started in the office so some comments speculated that some homeless people lit a fire for warmth, and it got out of control.]

Christopher Jordan Lindsay Sr.: Bums running out of buildings to burn for real in this town, I believe homeless shelter is in the works as we speak.

Andrew Tuttle shared

Six photos contributed in the comments on the above post. Please access the "posted" link to see the names of the contributors.

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Thom Fuhrmann commented on Andrew's share
Summer 2024

Dennis DeBruler: Thom Fuhrmann This is the other wood elevator in Wolf Point. The one that burned is east of this elevator.

Thom Fuhrmann: Dennis DeBruler thanks for the clarification.

Wesley Peters commented on Andrew's share
Photo I took in July 2024. Originally built for the Occident Elevator Co. in 1961. Hogenson Construction Co. was the contractor. 215,000-bushel capacity.

Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day posted five photos with the comment: "Photos from the Giant Fire in Wolf Point today [Dec 10, 2025]."

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Wesley Peters posted two photos with the comment:

Remembering the Occident Elevator at Wolf Point, Roosevelt County, MT.

Occident Elevator Co. Combination headhouse/annex built in 1961, Hogenson Construction Co. 215,000-bushel capacity.

Destroyed by fire on December 10, 2025.

Photographed on 7/12/2024.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

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The Great Northern served this town. Note how the river had meandered. I compared this map to a contemporary satellite image, and it appears that a meander has wiped Oldtown off the map.

1916/ Wolf Point Quad @ 62,500

Today's Amtrak depot looks like a farmer's shop building rather than a train depot.

Pete the Traveler, Jun 2023

On the east side of town, there is a modern elevator that is rail served.

Street View, Nov 2024

St. Charles, MN: Steel Grain Bins Collapse

(Satellite)

This collapse happened on Dec 1, 2025. No one was hurt, but the railroad, some roads and some businesses were closed for a while. Of course, they don't know, or won't say, what the cause was.

3:44 video @ 0:05
Grain Bin Collapse in St. Charles, Sananda McCall Reports

@ 0:06

This must have been a still that was taken during the collapses. Note that the bin on the right is compromised.

@ 0:46

Before the collapse, a citizen noticed a problem and notified first responders. So the area had been cleared out before the collapse.

2:26 video @ 0:55
St. Charles grain bin collapseS

The cleanup had progress far enough that the town was opened back up.

@ 1:30

The five bins were part of a feed mill. Those bins look tall and skinny. I wonder if they will determine that they are too tall and skinny.

Street View, Jul 2023

This appears to be the raw footage that the above news reports were using. It either took a while for the second bin to collapse, or it was pulled over to remove the hazard of it falling during cleanup.

Facebook Reel

This video confirms the bin was pulled over as a safety precaution.

Facebook Reel

Mayville, ND: Big Wood Grain Elevator Burns

(Satellite)

Chris Hennebry posted four photos with the comment: "The smoldering rubble of one of the grain elevators that burned down in Mayville ND earlier this week."
[Posted Nov 22, 2025]

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Chris' post
Wow. That was a big wood elevator, https://maps.app.goo.gl/G6MzYE221LFV9Wob9.

This town has a lot of grain elevators and some fertilizer supply companies. From north to south, these are satellite images of the companies I found.

Satellite

This is what is in the background of Photo 1 above.

Satellite

This is the one that burned. I wonder who receives tank cars.

Satellite

Satellite

While verifying that the United Grain Corp. elevator has a fall protector, I noticed that it also has a large wood elevator. The one that burned is in the left background of this view. This elevator has four different storage technologies: wood, slip-form, jump form and steel bins.

Street View, Jul 2025

Is this more of United Grain Corp.? I used a street view to determine that the two round foundations were for bins that were removed since Oct 2021.

Satellite

In the lower-right corner we see that this Kelley Bean elevator gets carload rail service.

Satellite

The railroad was the Great Northern.

1952/67 Grand Forks Quad @ 250,000

A lot of grain elevators explains why BNSF still operates the former-GN route to the north. And BNSF maintains this bridge trestle just for Kelley Bean.

BNSF