Many times, when you hear about a farmer who has been trapped inside of a grain bin, the outcome is often tragic.
However, last Wednesday, the Fountaintown Volunteer Fire Department in Shelby County was called to a farm to rescue a farmer trapped inside a grain bin. Thankfully, this story has a very happy ending and involves a great deal of coincidence.
“The timing and everything was really crazy, honestly—the fact that we just done this training,” says Claire Gray, who is the Public Information Officer and a volunteer with the Fountaintown Volunteer Fire Department.
She tells Hoosier Ag Today that she and her fellow firefighters had just completed Grain Bin Rescue training in Seymour just days before the incident.
“[During the training], they talked about how people would get calls during their class to go do a rescue, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s probably not going to happen.’ Another thing that helps with the timing was the fact that the farmer that was in the grain bin was practicing good technique and made sure that he had somebody out there with him to call 911 as soon as they realized he was trapped, which is something that is so important to emphasize to farmers getting into grain bins,” says Gray.
Dean Tyner, Chief of the Fountaintown Fire Department, says that a Grain Bin Rescue Tube had already been donated to his department by Bunge in Morristown to use for such an emergency.
“We put up the Grain Bin Rescue Tube that we have on our truck and got it into the bin and around the gentleman that was trapped,” says Tyner. “Shortly after we acquired access to get to him in and get everything around him, the other [nearby] fire departments started showing up and we used some other equipment from them and were able to get him freed.”
“The gentleman refused any medical treatment,” says Tyner. “He didn’t want to go to the hospital and walked away from the incident, which is pretty spectacular.”
Tyner says both the training and having the Grain Bin Rescue equipment has been invaluable.
“It’s not the first one I’ve been on,” he says. “We’ve had another one a few years ago and it was the same situation. The gentleman walked away from that one as well, so if I don’t ever do another one, at least I’ve had two and the outcomes have been good.”
Tyner adds that he’s proud of the efforts of his team and other nearby fire departments to work together to save the farmer’s life.
“It’s always nice to be able to save somebody—especially when it’s something like that when you know the majority of the outcomes are never good,” says Tyner. “When you can change that and make it a positive outcome, you’re pretty proud of everybody.”
Gray recommends that all fire departments across Indiana and the Midwest put a plan into place to respond to Grain Bin entrapment calls.
“At the very least, if you can’t get your hands on the equipment or the training, at least come up with the plan to be able to get those resources in place once you get that call,” says Gray.
CLICK BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s radio news story—featuring interviews with Chief Dean Tyner and Claire Gray with the Fountaintown Volunteer Fire Department.
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