Collapsed grain bin cleanup continues in Arcola
ARCOLA, Ill. (WCIA) — More than two months ago, a grain bin collapsed in Arcola. The initial cleanup has been finished, but the owners said there is still more work to be done.
On that first night of February, local Clayton Casillas saw a sight many people could never imagine.
“It just looked like a big, like puff of smoke,” he said. “And then once the smoke cleared, there was just so much corn.”
It took two months to clean up all the corn. Now, the structural cleanup begins.
VIDEO: Arcola Grain Bin collapse caught on camera
People are relieved and ready to return to their normal lives. Although, some are still living with broken fences and a damaged house.
“I’m heavily allergic to corn dust,” Casillas said. “So, it was not fun for me for like the first week.”
He said the allergies are better, but he still worries about the remaining silos.
“I don’t know what happened with the new ones because they’re, you know, supposed to be stronger, because they’re new,” Casillas said, “but apparently not with how that one fell.”
Mayor Jesus Garza had never seen anything like it in all his years living in Arcola.
The corn has been cleaned up for a week. Although, you can still see a bit of grain scattered around. Now, the owners of the busted bin are going to take down others on the property out of an abundance of caution.
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“They say they’ll only tear down about seven of those,” Garza said. “And basically, they’re going to reuse a concrete pad and build it back up.”
Almost 600,000 bushels spilled out onto the surrounding area, including a nearby house and Casillas’s back yard. That’s roughly 17 tons of corn.
Casillas said he’s glad the congestion from his allergies has subsided, as well as the congestion in front of his house. He said for a couple of weeks after the collapse, gawkers would block his driveway.
“Okay, finally, I can get to work,” Casillas said. “But some people are still kind of nosey. They want to stop and look at how the progress is going, but, like, it’s not as bad.”
People at TGM — the owners of the bins — say they’ll put up three new bins to replace the seven they’re taking down and the one that collapsed.
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