A half-covered silage pile sat quietly at the edge of Twin View Farm on Friday where a mountainous pile of the fermenting feed collapsed and trapped a man who later died.
On Friday morning, the 30-year-old man worked on top of the corn silage pile, removing the tarp that covered it and the tires that held the tarp in place, said Weld County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. Matt Turner. He climbed down and went to go pick up the tires when the silage pile collapsed on top of him.
Weld County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the emergency call about 9 a.m. at Twin View Farms near Weld County roads 15 and 38, about 5 miles south of Johnstown.
Deputies found the man unconscious and in pretty bad shape, Turner said. The deputies started tending to the man and emergency responders from Front Range Fire Rescue arrived and began performing CPR.
Emergency responders managed to get the man’s heart beating, but he died later that morning, Turner said.
Turner said the man’s name could not be released until his next of kin were notified. That information along with the exact cause of death will come from the Weld County Coroner’s office.
Silage is often found as a standing pile of fermenting feed. At Twin Valley Farms — like many agricultural operations around Weld County — the silage piles tower, standing at tall as some two-floor buildings covered in white tarps and stretch hundreds of feet.
Representatives of the farm did not wish to comment for this story. Numerous phone calls seeking additional information from Front Range Fire Rescue, which serves Johnstown, Milliken and portions of unincorporated Weld County were not immediately returned.
Source: The Tribune
