Silo Collapse Kills Father, Son

A father and son in Wisconsin have died after a silo they were cleaning collapsed.

On Saturday, March 24, Dan Briel, 51, and his two teenage sons, Caleb Briel, 15, and David Briel, 14, were cleaning the inside of a silo on their rural dairy farm in Hillsdale, Wisconsin when the grain inside suddenly collapsed on top of them, Fox 9 reports.

The father and sons had allegedly been cleaning the inside of the silo, removing the silage, grass and other grains that are compacted and stored in silos, from the sides when a large portion of the silage collapsed on top of them, burying them in roughly eight feet of the silage. Caleb, who had been about to exit the silo, managed to escape and call for help.

It took firefighters 45 minutes to pull the father and son from the silage, using thermal imaging devices and extraction equipment to locate them and remove them from the collapse. Dan Briel had already died, and David Briel had a weak pulse. The 14-year-old, who had just celebrated his birthday six days prior, was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he passed away in the ambulance from his injuries.

"I have peace knowing that he was praying with our son. I have peace knowing that he was holding onto our son," Dan's wife and the teenagers' mother, Melissa Briel, said.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said that accidents like these are not entirely uncommon, though they rarely result in death.

"In the farming world these accidents do happen…but they usually don't lead to death," Fitzgerald said. "This one was just a tragic accident."

The Briel's community has set up a GoFundMe page for the family to help cover funeral expenses.

"If you are unable to help financially, please keep Melissa, Caleb, Ben, Abigail, Erika, and the entire family in your prayers. They are a family whose love for God shows in everything they do and they will need all of His strength and love during this time," the page states.