Heroes nominated for saving Baralaba farmer trapped in grain silo

Just after midday on February 23, emergency services responded to reports a man was trapped up to his neck in grain.

John Lawson had become stuck after the grain silo he was emptying became blocked and he climbed in to push the centre with a pipe before it all collapsed in and set solid, holding him down.

Officer in charge at Baralaba Police Station sergeant Wylie Steel, Constable Callam Moriarty, and officer in charge at Baralaba Ambulance Station Vaughan Mason were first responders on the scene.

Mr Steel said he, Mr Moriarty and Mr Mason entered the silo to rescue the man, using a tarp and a ladder to stop them all from sinking and a piece of pipe to help him breathe while the officers freed him.

"We could tell he was in a world of hurt, in grain basically up to his eyes, so we got up there and started digging around so he could breathe."

Mr Steel said the community rallied to help save one of their own, with people on the ground cutting a hole to release grain from the silo.

"We were basically in the middle of nowhere, so we called for help from the local auxiliary firefighters, Baralaba Coalmine's emergency response team, police detectives from Woorabinda, other emergency services, civilians and local farmers, and the Bush Telegraph worked overtime to help us too."

"It took a whole community to help this bloke out, and some of those people travelled from 100kms away.

"It was a pretty high stress situation and an exhausting effort, but everyone was so relieved and happy."

Mr Steel said everyone quickly realised how serious the situation was.

"Wheat is very difficult to work with, it's worse than quicksand and we were in there, buried up to our chests," he said.

"The gentleman was literally buried to his chin, so we had to communicate with direct question, and he responded by blinking.

"We were taking away as much grain as we could, digging around him and communicating with the group outside because they could not see where we were at."

Mr Mason said the small town's emergency services were very close and even knew each other's equipment and capabilities, which helped in many situations.

"When I got there, it was just three of us, but by the time I came out there was 20 plus people, if not more," he said.

"The community came together with clear task of what we needed to achieve, and the jubilation of getting out of the silo was something I had never been in before."

Mr Mason said the group was humbled to be named finalists in the teamwork category for the Everyday Heroes Awards.

"We're all so ecstatic about the recognition, and hats off to everyone, even those outside, because it was just such an amazing effort," Mr Mason said.

"Unfortunately, with grain those situations usually don't have such a great result."

The awards celebrate the achievements of people within Queensland Police, Fire, Health, Ambulance, Corrections, Justice, Public Service, Education, and volunteers.

The finalists will be reviewed by a panel of judges, and the winners will receive $2000 and an additional $2000 donated to a charity of their choice.

The winners will be announced at the annual awards dinner at the W Brisbane Hotel on October 27.