The call reporting an accident at the Hardy elevator was of the type that local responders envision in their nightmares. It was reported a man had fallen while working on a piece of equipment known as a leg. Elevator legs are used to lift the grain from the ground to distributors which then send it on to the desired bin. While legs may have stairs or ladders, they are not designed in a way to make movement of an injured person easy.

When the call for help came to the first responders, they were told the man, had fallen, may have suffered a broken arm and leg and was still on the grain leg.

The...