Grain elevator collapses near Edwall, knocking out power to rural area west of Spokane

A grain elevator collapsed early Wednesday in Edwall causing a brief power surge and warping on a section of BNSF Railway track.

The collapse happened around 1 a.m. A bin at the facility, which is owned by Ritzville Warehouse Co. based out of Ritzville, appears to have been full of grain, some of which spilled out onto the ground.

Deputy Scott Blomgren with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said details are scarce.

“We don’t know the size of the elevator or how much grain is out,” he said.

The collapsing structure also took out an Avista Utilities service line running to the elevator, which shorted the transformer and caused a power surge to the small town of Edwall and surrounding area, said Avista spokesman David Vowels.

He said Avista customers likely experienced a short flicker of their lights but “it was so early in the morning that a lot of customers probably barely noticed it even happened.”

Vowels said crews were out working until 5 a.m.

Jonathan Belgarde, the principal of Christian Heritage School, said he didn’t lose power but did hear of some residents who did. Belgarde went and took pictures of the mangled remains and piles of grain once he heard what happened.

“The metal is all collapsed on that silo,” he said. “The auger on top, it’s all come down.”

A section of BNSF Railway track was warped by the collapsing structure, though eyewitnesses said it was a side line and not the mainline that carries about 20 to 23 trains from Everett to Spokane with stops in Wenatchee and Ephrata. The mainline appears to be unaffected.

Sue Lani Madsen, a freelance columnist with The Spokesman-Review, said trains were slowing to a crawl as they passed through Edwall, likely out of concern of the next bin over that was hit top and bottom in the collapse.

A spokesperson for both BNSF and Ritzville Warehouse Co. were not immediately available for comment.