The GROWMARK Foundation donated two grain rescue tubes to the Warrensburg Fire Department and the Westfield Fire Protection District, both in Illinois. The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety delivered the tubes on October 6 and October 10 and provided a three-hour training session with classroom and hands-on components, where firefighters practiced rescuing a victim in the grain and cutting grain bin panels to safely release grain.
Grain bin entrapments leading to injuries and fatalities among farmers and farm workers have been on the rise since 2023, and as more grain is stored in private bins on farms, more entrapments are likely to occur. Each injury and fatality is a tragic event for the families involved and the communities in which they live and work. The grain rescue tube has proven effective in rescuing individuals from entrapment, but not every fire department has one.
Dan Neenan, the Director of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety and a paramedic, emphasizes the critical role that lifesaving equipment, such as grain rescue tubes, plays for fire departments. He says this equipment can mean the difference between a trip to the hospital and a call to the coroner. "The importance of providing rescue tubes to volunteer fire departments lies in equipping them with the tools necessary to rescue individuals trapped in grain bins. In these situations, every moment counts, and using the rescue tube to relieve the pressure on the victim's body can be lifesaving."
Neenan says the tubes buy valuable minutes for victims trapped in grain and the firefighters working to rescue them. “The rescue tube is used as a cofferdam that is built around the entrapped victim to isolate them from the grain outside in the bin, giving them some space to breathe a little better as it helps ease the pressure of the grain pressing against a victim’s chest,” he said. “A rescue auger is then used to remove grain from inside the rescue tube until the victim is able to move under their own power.”
Warrensburg Fire District Chief Keith Hackle says it’s one more tool to help save lives. “It's an added tool in our toolbox, and when a person is trapped in a bin, seconds count when you’re trying to save someone’s life in that situation, and we always want to have a positive outcome,” he said. “The really great part about this donation is that our tube will connect with the system that Decatur has and make an even bigger tube that we can use during a grain engulfment rescue.”
Kevin Frye, GROWMARK’s Safety & Environmental Services Consultant, says educating farmers about grain bin safety is critical. “We appreciate everything the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety does to teach farmers and farm workers about grain bin safety,” he said. “The first priority is to educate farmers and those who work in grain operations to avoid putting themselves in dangerous situations. If a catastrophic event occurs, we are honored to support emergency responders with the equipment and training necessary to safely conduct rescues and protect lives.”