The Associated Press
NEOSHO, Mo. - A Neosho firefighter was crushed in a conveyor while battling a blaze at a livestock feed company in southwest Missouri’s Newton County, authorities said Tuesday.
The firefighter was riding the conveyor when the accident happened Monday, Sheriff Ken Copeland said.
The name of the firefighter was not immediately released, but the Fire Department planned to release a statement Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters from Neosho as well as Redings Mill, Seneca and Joplin responded to Ragland Mills Inc. after receiving a report about 12:45 p.m. Monday that a grain bin containing wheat hulls had caught fire. The bin was the west of a second structure at the plant.
“We’ve lost one of our brothers,” said Michael White, deputy chief for the Redings Mill Fire Department, about five hours after the fire had been brought under control.
White said firefighters were attempting to get above the fire in the adjacent structure and direct water down on it. He described the conveyor belt as a virtual one-person elevator.
He said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.