COVINGTON – Approximately 20 Covington Fire & Rescue firefighters attended a specialized training in July after receiving a grain rescue tube.

The grain rescue tube was received from a grant that Nikki Angle, from Scoular Grain, submitted for Covington Fire & Rescue through Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, said Jason Lyle, Covington Fire & Rescue firefighter.

“We are so thankful to Nikki for submitting this. It was something we had never even heard of before,” said Lyle.

The grain rescue tube is a set of six pieces that connect to make a tube around the trapped individual. Then, an auger battery drill is used to rescue the trapped person. The process can take 15 to 30 minutes, depending on manpower and resources, he said.

According to Lyle, Covington Fire & Rescue has never had grain rescue equipment until they received this grant, even though Covington is a farming community. For any situations where a rescue tube was needed, Covington Fire & Rescue was required to utilize other departments’ equipment, which currently include Bradford and Piqua.

When a rescue is needed, he said Covington Fire & Rescue can respond and Bradford or Piqua will also respond to have a second set of equipment available to ensure that if the first equipment fails, a second can be added promptly.

The training the firefighters received was conducted by the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS). Director Dan Neenan conducted the training utilizing a grain entrapment simulator.

Covington Fire & Rescue was one of 58 fire departments to receive the equipment and training, according to Nationwide.

“It felt good to receive this grant. The grant was estimated to be around a $6,000 value. It really brings to light something that we don’t see or think about all the time, unlike accidents. It was very enlightening on what could happen,” said Lyle.