Crews rescue person trapped in Mint Hill silo

MINT HILL, N.C. (WBTV) - A man trapped in a hot silo and surrounded by soybeans was successfully rescued by emergency responders in Mecklenburg County on Wednesday morning.

The incident happened at a family farm off Arlington Church Road in Mint Hill. Medic confirmed a person was trapped in the area and that Charlotte Fire led the rescue with help from Mint Hill, Idlewild, and Unionville crews.

Unionville firefighters were able to make use of a specialized rescue tube designed for such rescue operations, which was placed around the person to keep him from sinking further into the soybeans.

“We did have a patient inside the silo,” said David Leath, Chief of the Mint Hill Fire Department. “He was buried to chest high with soybeans.”

WBTV’s Sky3 was over the scene and identified the rescue operations taking place over a silo on a family farm.

“It took us an hour and a half. We had to be very slow, methodical about this. The grain itself was actually above our heads and it could have collapsed at anytime,” Leath added. “After getting everything in place we were able to get a harness around him, dig him out, and then pull him out of the top of the silo and set him on the ground.”

The man who was rescued from the silo was “injury-free,” but was taken to the hospital for evaluation, according to officials.