Director Dan Neenan from the National Education Center for Ag Safety, far right, provides instruction on grain bin rescue to Laura firefighters with Jim Trout and Martin Monhollen, while fellow firefighter Ken Saunders plays victim during a Thursday evening class at the Laura Fire Department.
Staff Report
LAURA — The Laura Fire Department has been awarded a grain rescue tube and specialized training to help protect against grain bin entrapments in the area.
The resources for Thursday’s donation were provided by Nationwide, Graves Fearon Agency and the Miami County Ohio Farm Bureau through Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, which has delivered grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to 152 rural fire departments across 29 states since 2014.
To deliver the resources, Nationwide partners with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to train first responders in a grain simulator. At least four of the grain rescue tubes provided through the campaign have been used to save the lives of farmers trapped in grain bins when they go in to remove clumped or rotten grain.
For the 2021 campaign, there were 1,006 nominations and 41 fire departments across the country were chosen to receive the rescue tubes. The Camden Township Fire Department in Kipton and Berlin Township Fire Department in Berlin Heights were the only other departments in Ohio to receive the tubes.
Nationwide, in partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), is awarding 41 fire departments across the country with life-saving grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to prepare them to respond when grain accidents occur this year.
“We began our Grain Bin Safety campaign in 2014 to support the agriculture community and put an end to avoidable deaths from individuals entering grain bins without recognizing the dangers and taking precautions,” said Brad Liggett, president of Nationwide Agribusiness. “Thanks to the generous and increasing support of our partners, I’m extremely proud to say that we’re providing more rescue tubes and training to first responders this year than we have ever before.”
Liggett said they will continue the program for as long as needed.
“It’s as important as ever to be following proper safety precautions when entering a bin,” said Liggett. “Our goal is to continue these efforts until we can ensure every rural fire department has access to these critical rescue resources.”
Upon presenting the tools, Ty Stikeleather from Graves-Fearon Agency said, “We are glad that we could help sponsor this. It will help you do your job better and help the community.”
