Man dies in Iowa grain bin accident
Kim Norvell, knorvell@dmreg.com 5:52 a.m. CDT August 28, 2015
A 27-year-old employee at the co-op in Farnhamville, Iowa, died Thursday in a grain bin accident.
Bret Steck of the Farmers Cooperative Co. was killed after he became engulfed in soybeans, the company said in a statement. He had been cleaning the grain bin under proper supervision when the accident happened, the statement said.
Emergency responders recovered his body at about 10:45 a.m. Several area fire departments also responded.
Farmers Cooperative said the “proper authorities” have been notified for a full investigation. A spokeswoman with the company declined to comment or answer questions until the investigation is complete, “out of respect for the family.”
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of Bret Steck of FC-Farnhamville,” the statement said. “At this time, the focus of our thoughts is on the emotional healing of the Steck family and our co-workers.”
Steck’s mother-in-law, Cheryl Rasmussen, remembered him as a kind man who was strong in his faith. She said their family is in shock.
“He was a very happy-go-lucky, do-anything-for-everyone-else person,” she said. “He always put everyone else above himself.”
He and his wife, Krystal Steck, had been married for three years. They lived with their two sons, ages 2 and 4, in Gowrie, Iowa.
He had just celebrated his five-year anniversary with Farmers Cooperative Co., Rasmussen said.
Des Moines Register archives indicate that this is the second grain bin fatality in Iowa this year.
Gary Fancher, 62, of Audubon was killed in April after he was trapped in grain. Two others have been rescued from grain bins across the state.
Last year was record setting for the number of grain bin entrapments in the United States, according to Purdue University, who publishes an annual summary of agricultural confined space-related injuries and fatalities.
There were 38 documented entrapments resulting in 17 deaths in 2014. Four entrapments were reported in Iowa.