Worker missing after silo collapse in Roy

ROY, Wash. – A Wilcox Farms worker is missing after a grain silo collapsed at the farm’s feed mill in the Pierce County town of Roy, according to a fire official.

South Pierce Fire & Rescue Chief Bob Vellias said Monday night that a Federal Emergency Management Agency engineer was assessing the building to see whether a search dog could be allowed inside.

A male employee in his 50s was believed trapped by tons of grain Monday afternoon, Vellias said. The man was not immediately identified.

The chief said because of lighting issues, rescuers don’t expect to be able to fully search the wreckage until Tuesday, according to the News Tribune, of Tacoma.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the collapse, which eventually filled an office and electrical area with corn. The missing worker was in that building.

Vellias said Wilcox Farms officials were not speaking with reporters Monday. A call to the mill rang unanswered. The family farm supplies eggs throughout the Pacific Northwest.