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Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Company personnel recently received hands-on training on the company’s latest addition to its farm-rescue arsenal — a tool they hope they’ll never have to deploy in an actual emergency.

The Fleetwood company this summer received a grain rescue tube delivered by Iowa-based National Education Center for Agricultural Safety as part of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign.

The program this year awarded 58 fire departments across the country with grain rescue tubes and, crucially, hands-on training to prepare them to respond when grain entrapments occur.

Unlike tall, pencil-shaped silos that store chopped corn plants known as silage to feed to cows, grain bins are typically shorter and constructed of metal and hold harvested grain such as corn, said John Manmiller, Fleetwood Fire Company chief.

Tons of grain can have the effect of quicksand if a farmer or someone isn’t careful while loosening a clot of damp grain clogging the inlet chute, he said. A victim can suffocate, and extracting a person from tons of grain by hand is time-consuming and exhausting.

The grain rescue tube has several panels that are shoved into the grain individually on all sides of the victim to form a cylinder. To remove the grain within the tube rescue, personnel then insert an auger encased in a narrower tube and connected to a handheld cordless drill.

When powered by the drill, grain is ejected through the cane-handle-shaped top of the red cylinder. When enough grain is expelled, the victim can be pulled out or use the steps inside the tube to climb out.

Manmiller said Fleetwood’s landing one of the grants among 1,800 nominations across 45 states was due to the sponsorship by F.M. Brown’s Sons Inc., which operates a grain mill on West Main Street in Fleetwood.

Nationwide’s annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest is a key piece of the insurer’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, officials said.

NECAS, based out of Peosta, Iowa, is delivering rescue tubes and training to the winning fire departments throughout the year, traveling to each with grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes.

The comprehensive training sessions include classroom education and rescue simulation equipment and tools, which are loaded onto 20-foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each.

With 2022 donations included, Nationwide and partners have supplied these resources to 265 departments in 31 states. At least five fire departments have used their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped workers.

“We are proud to provide first responders the education and resources to lead the fight against local grain bin entrapments,” said Brad Liggett, president of agribusiness at Nationwide. “It’s been our mission to bring an end to this industry issue by raising awareness of the dangers and supplying needed equipment to the front line rescuers tasked with responding when accidents occur.”

Manmiller said competition for such grants is keen.

“The fire company’s been applying for this grant every year,” he said. “When you have a business like that applying, it think it’s a big help and push.”

According to Manmiller, the only other grain rescue tube in Berks County is at Womelsdorf Fire Company, in southwestern Berks.

Fleetwood Fire Company plans to partner with the Oley and Kutztown fire companies so firefighters covering a large area of eastern Berks are trained to use the equipment.

“We want to have a small task force built so we can get equipment quickly to the scene,” Manmiller said.

Fleetwood is also planning to expand its farm-rescue capabilities, holding a class in long-rope rescue and silo rescue, he said.

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