Waupun man dies in corn silo at Didion Corn Mill in Cambria 

CAMBRIA – A 52-year-old Waupun man died Tuesday in a corn silo at Didion Corn Mill in Cambria.

Columbia County Sheriff Roger Brandner said his office received a call shortly after 9 a.m. about an unaccounted-for employee at the mill, in the village of Cambria.

Initial reports were that an employee was working in or around a corn silo in a confined space and now could not be located.

Cambria and Friesland fire departments and Pardeeville EMS were dispatched to the mill and began search and rescue efforts. After hours of rescue efforts, the employee was found, dead, inside one of the corn bins.

The name of the employee has not been released.

Didion released a statement around 7:30 p.m. that read: 

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Didion work family member who was recovered from a grain silo at the Cambria raw corn processing facility. … We are assisting authorities as they investigate the cause of this tragic event and will not be able to release additional details at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee’s loved ones and our grieving work family. We want to thank local fire and EMT professionals for their responsiveness and rescue efforts.”

Additional resources from Portage Fire Department, Divine Savior/Aspirus EMS, Lifestar EMS, UW Medflight, Columbia County Emergency Management, Salvation Army and the Portage and Columbus departments of public works assisted on scene.

In June 2017 an explosion at the Didion Milling Plant five workers and injured 14 others. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the explosion likely occurred from Didion’s failure to correct the leakage and accumulation of highly combustible grain dust throughout the facility.