For weeks you have been able to see the soybean fire at the Gavilon grain elevator west of Rock Port, Missouri. What you could not see were the silos that have started to burn on the inside. On Thursday, August 8, the crews working on getting the grain out of the silos needed the West Atchison Fire Department to put a steady stream of water coming in from the roof. Along with Rock Port Fire Department, five other area fire departments (Watson, Tarkio, Fairfax, Westboro and Oregon) were on hand to help. Atchison County Sheriff’s Department, Rock Port City Police and the Atchison-Holt Ambulance were also on hand to assist with traffic and safety. Salvage crews from South Dakota and Lincoln cut holes in the sides of the silos in order to start pulling the grain out using a custom-made auger mounted on a tele-lift and hauling it to the north side of the elevators. It would be difficult to total all of the man hours spent on getting this situation under control from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon.

(Photo by Gene Bradley)