Search Halted for Missing Man in Silo Collapse

Photo: DC Randall L. Shank, @LCFR_DC_OPS

A 19-year-old worker remained unaccounted for Monday afternoon after going missing when a sile collapsed early Monday morning at an Ashburn quarry.

As of 6 p.m., the search for the worker by fire and rescue personnel was suspended as engineers worked to stabilize the silo with heavy equipment. The worker’s name has not been released, but his family is at the quarry, according to media reports.

The Loudoun County fire departnent was called at about 6:30 a.m. to the Luck Stone Quarry, off Belmont Ridge Road, WJLA-TV Channel 7 reported.

The 80-foot-tall silo spilled tons of a fine material called mineral filler, used in asphalt, across the quarry yard, at 201210 Luck Lane. Fire officials are hopeful that the man is in a void somewhere in the silo material, according to WUSA9.

A plant manager said the young employee was unloading material from the silo into a truck when the silo “split,” according to WRC-TV NBC Washington.

Fire and rescue personnel had to halt their search for the missing worker at about 9 a.m. to await the arrival of heavy equipment. It arrived at about 3 p.m. and the search was expected to resume later Monday afternoon, radio station WTOP reported. The silo must be stabilized first so crews can work around it safely, fire officials say.

Emergency personnel from Loudoun County and Fairfax County are at the quarry, along with search dogs, media outlets reported. Crews used listening devices to detect any sounds that might come from beneath the rubble and also sent in search dogs in hopes of the locating the worker, Keith Johnson, Loudoun county’s assistant fire chief, told WTOP.

In addition, personnel from the Montgomery County, Md., Urban Search and Rescue Team joined the search, according to Laura Rinehart, a spokeswoman with the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management.

Upon arrival Monday morning, rescuers went to work quickly, trying to locate the employee, Rinehard said. With the assistance of the Town of Leesburg’s vacuum truck, crews cleared debris from around the silo structure.

But “due to the compromised structural integrity of the silo, operations were temporarily ceased shortly after 9 a.m. until the structure could be evaluated,” Rinehart said.

A structural engineer with the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team evaluated the structural integrity of the sand plant silo, she said.

The quarry is owned by Luck Stone, a family-owned company based in Richmond.

WTOP reported that officials from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy were headed to Ashburn from Charlottesville, and officials from the federal Mines Safety and Health Administration were also heading to the quarry.

Rinehart said that officials from the federal agency and the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health agency will investigate the incident.