At approximately 5:27 a.m, the Marshall County Communication Center received a report of a grain elevator explosion at the Mid-Iowa Cooperative, 502 Green Mountain Rd, according to a press release from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies got to the scene, it was discovered that a soybean grain bin containing approximately 300,000 bushels of soybeans had collapsed. Due to the proximity of the grain bin and the large volume of soybeans displaced, the force pushed a nearby office building partially off of its foundation.

There were no employees on the property during the collapse. As of about 8 a.m. Friday, utility workers remained on scene to repair gas, water, and electric services to the business. The sheriff’s office asked the public to avoid the area during the ongoing cleanup process.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Tama and Grundy County Sheriff’s Offices, Green Mountain and Le Grand Fire Departments and First Responders, UnityPoint Health — Marshalltown Ambulance, Alliant Energy and the Iowa Rural Water Association.

Later in the day, the Green Mountain Fire Department issued a separate press release indicating that the oldest bin on site, which Sheriff Joel Phillips said was around 80 years old, failed and caused damage to the site office. Initially, the fire department received reports of “a loud boom and smoke visible.”

“The firefighter saw no indication of a fire, but could hear water running inside the office, and found the natural gas meter had been damaged and was leaking outside the structure. The fire and EMS agencies from outside of Marshall County were disregarded once the situation was better understood,” the Green Mountain FD’s release said.

Green Mountain firefighters were at the scene until approximately 7:30 a.m., when Alliant Energy was able to secure the gas line. At presstime, no injuries have been reported.

Photo by Garry Brandenburg —This image was made during the late afternoon of 3-15-2024. The fatigue of the metal bin sides at one or several points acted like a landslide. Once a break was initiated, others happened and the entire structure fell straight down with landslides of corn in all equal directions. Anything close to the spill was impacted or moved. Mid-Iowa COOP owns the facility.