Update: Faulty bearing may have started silo fire in Osakis
No one was seriously injured when the top exploded off the silo because of built-up gasses from the burning corn.
The top of a silo blew off after the corn inside started on fire. No one was injured. The fire was at the farm of Tom Grundman, 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
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.
Fire departments from Osakis, Alexandria and Villard work on a silo fire at the farm of Tom Grundman, 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Celeste Edenloff / Alexandria Echo Press
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.
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Tom Grundman of Osakis, in the skid loader, helps to clean out corn from a silo on his farm that was on fire. Fire departments from Osakis, Alexandria and Villard worked on the fire at the farm at 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Celeste Edenloff / Alexandria Echo Press
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.
The Osakis Fire Department, with assistance from two other fire departments – Alexandria and Villard – were called to a silo fire at the farm of Tom Grundman, 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Celeste Edenloff / Alexandria Echo Press
Tom Grundman of Osakis, in his skid loader, helps to clean out corn from a silo on his farm that was on fire. Fire departments from Osakis, Alexandria and Villard worked on the fire at the farm at 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Celeste Edenloff / Alexandria Echo Press
Fire departments from Osakis, Alexandria and Villard work on a silo fire at the farm of Tom Grundman, 13461 W Cemetery Road SE, Osakis. The fire was reported shortly before noon on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.
Celeste Edenloff is the special projects editor and a reporter for the Alexandria Echo Press. She has lived in the Alexandria Lakes Area since 1997. She first worked for the Echo Press as a reporter from 1999 to 2011, and returned in 2016 to once again report on the community she calls home.
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