A Somerset County man collapsed and died Monday while working inside a silo on a Washington County farm.

William C. Wright of Stoystown could not be revived by paramedics who were called shortly after noon to the Marko Brigich dairy farm in Chartiers, township police chief Jim Horvath said. It was Wright’s 40th birthday, Deputy Washington County Coroner Tim Kegel said.

Wright, who was part of a three-man crew from Somerset Barn Equipment Co., was working to repair an uploader inside the silo when he collapsed on a platform, Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco said.

Horvath said there was no indication that Wright suffered any injuries, and Warco said an autopsy was scheduled to determine how he died.

Brigich, 75, who inherited the farm from his father, said the crew was trying to drill through the tightly packed haylage which had clogged the feeder system. Haylage is a grass crop used to feed farm animals.

Wright and another worker were inside the silo, which is 60 feet high and about half full, and the third worker was working outside, Brigich said.

“They came out Friday and drilled but couldn’t do anything with it, so they came back out again today,” Brigich said.

“The boy with him said he gurgled and fell backwards. It only took paramedics six minutes to get here.”

Township firefighters said they called the Washington County Hazardous Materials Team for assistance because it has special equipment — such as pulleys, harnesses, flexible stretchers — that can be used to make rescues and recoveries from confined spaces.

Working inside silos can be dangerous because of dust, heat, gases and lack of oxygen, but Brigich said he believes there was “a lot of air” in the area where the men were working.

Brigich, who was milking cows when he heard the co-workers calling for help, said Wright was not trapped in the haylage, which is tightly packed to minimize spoiling.

“It’s like standing on solid ground,” said Brigich.

Firefighters said it was about 3 p.m. when Wright’s body was removed through a small outside hole in the silo and lowered to the ground.

A federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator arrived and interviewed Wright’s co-workers.

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