Illinois company makes grain bin rescue equipment

LANARK, Ill. (AP) - A company in northwestern Illinois has developed a device for rescuing workers trapped in grain bins. The Eastland Fabrication in Lanark makes a piece of equipment called the Great Wall of Rescue.  They've been working on the technology since 2010, when two teenagers died in a grain bin in nearby Mount Carroll. Eastland sponsors demonstrations of its grain-bin rescue technique. A victim who sinks to knee level in a grain cave-in can't get out without help from rescuers because of the force of the grain. The Great Wall of Rescue creates a barrier and reduces the pressure. But the University of Illinois Extension still tells farm operators to stay out of grain bins whenever possible and to wear a harness attached to a properly secured rope.