Wauzeka Fire and Rescue wins grain bin rescue tube
Firemen from a number of other Crawford County fire departments joined the Wauzeka Fire and Rescue Department for a grain bin rescue training Aug. 18. They are pictured with the grain bin rescue tube Wauzeka Fire won from Nationwide Insurance and the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS).
Tyler Aspenson, a member of the Seneca Fire Department, volunteered to be “sunk” in a half bin full of corn up to his belly button. He said he couldn’t move his legs at all while trapped in the grain, before his fellow volunteers rescued him with assistance from the grain bin rescue tube. (Photos by Correne Martin)
Wauzeka Fire’s Assistant Chief Nick Zeeh uses a diamond-blade saw to cut through galvanized steel, a material from which many grain bins are constructed. Standing behind him are trainer Dan Neenan, and some of the area firemen who participated.
Two of the men partaking in the Aug. 18 training work to advance the rescue tube down into the corn.
Area firemen practiced rescuing someone from a grain bin. They are shown connecting the six panels as straight as possible around the “victim.” Once they place them all together, two of the rescuers will step on the exterior panel steps, opposite one another, and use their body weight to force the tube down two to three inches at a time. As the tube is advanced, grain can be scooped from within. More grain can be removed as it continues sliding down, and eventually, the victim can get free.
By Correne Martin
Twenty-nine fire departments in 19 states were each recently awarded a grain bin rescue tube and four hours of training, valued at roughly $5,000, as part of the fifth annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest. The Wauzeka Fire and Rescue Department was one of the applicants selected and is the first agency in Crawford County to receive this life-saving piece of equipment. The contest is sponsored by Nationwide Insurance and the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS).
As a result, Wauzeka is collaborating with neighboring departments—including six others in Crawford County, and Boscobel in Grant County—to pursue supplemental hardware and gear that will ensure the area is prepared to respond to any grain bin entrapment scenario safely and efficiently.
In 2016, Crawford County had 37,700 acres of corn with 5.5 million bushels harvested, and 20,300 acres of soybeans with 1,520,420 bushels harvested, according to research from Larry Zeeh, Wauzeka Fire and Rescue member. This information was reported in his nomination to Nationwide, which also noted that “with President Trump imposing grain tariffs with other countries, area farmers are looking to store their grain until better prices can be had.” Zeeh believes this has been the impetus for farmers constructing more grain bins across the county.
“With that being said, the potential of a person or persons getting trapped in a grain bin is ever increasing,” he stated.
All it takes is 15 seconds for a farmer—who’s gone into a bin to unclog a sump pump—to sink to his belly button in grain, “and he can’t move,” explained Dan Neenan, of Peosta, Iowa.
Representing NECAS, Neenan provided the Aug. 18, training at the Wauzeka fire house. He educated 25 firemen from about 10 different departments via a verbal presentation and hands-on demonstration.
Half a dozen firemen volunteered to be sunk separately in corn above their waist inside a grain bin simulator, and then be “rescued” by their comrades.
Tyler Aspenson, of Seneca, was one of them. He said, “It truly is a confined space.” Wearing shorts during his immersion, Aspenson stepped out with pocked marks that lasted an hour on his lower legs from the corn and pressure on his body.
The Great Wall of Rescue is designed as six, lightweight, 5-foot wall sections that are easily maneuvered and can be aligned to form a tube around a victim. The bends in the panels give them the strength to not cave in on the person. They smoothly connect together and slide down into grain. Once connected, two rescuers can step onto the exterior steps of the tube’s opposite standing panels, and use their own body weight to push sections into the grain, as opposed to hammering. Typically, the tube slides down two to three inches at a time. Once the panels are inserted into the grain mass, the grain can be removed—by a rescue auger or hand scoops—from around the victim, relieving pressure. When enough grain and pressure are removed around him, a cooperative victim could use the interior side of the steps to climb out of the grain and be taken to safety.
The six-panel tube has fit a 350-pound man before during training, Neenan said. Though, additional wall sections can be purchased to accommodate someone who’s fallen horizontally within a grain bin.
Furthermore, Neenan left a list of recommended rescue tube accessories with the Wauzeka Fire and Rescue and its fellow departments from Crawford County and Boscobel. Such optional items may include roping and carabiners for rescuers’ safety, an auger that can remove grain at two bushels per minute, platforms to provide rescuers a standing base and a lockout/tagout kit as another safeguard for hazardous energy releases.
Zeeh said, after the training, that Wauzeka desires to have a mutual aid agreement for use of its tube device along with accessories the other departments hope to purchase. He said donations toward these efforts would be appreciated.
A few firemen also took advantage of the training opportunity Aug. 18, to use a diamond-blade saw and cut through a few donated sheets of galvanized steel. This happened while the other firemen observed.
“One of the biggest questions I’m asked is ‘how long it takes for a person to be crushed by the grain,’” Neenan remarked. “It depends on the person, his age and health, the type and density of the grain and how fast the auger is moving.” He said moving grain acts like quicksand and can bury someone in seconds. In addition, grain that is too wet or in poor condition can cause pockets to form and these can collapse beneath a farmer as he walks across the grain.
Safety officials say one foot of grain over an individual provides about 300 pounds of pressure. With 2 feet or more around the body, it would be extremely difficult to pull yourself out without assistance. Even with assistance, there is a high probability that it could take a considerable amount of time to free someone engulfed by grain, while also leaving enough friction and pressure to possibly further injure a victim .
Neenan discussed additional topics during the training, such as grain bin fires caused from dust, cutting through a grain bin and locating a victim and other common killers of firefighters like cancer.
For those who reflected on the day, it was a worthwhile experience.
