Firefighters learn silo rescue techniques

Van Wert independent staff

Area firefighters had the chance to learn about grain bin rescue techniques during a free seminar sponsored by Mercer Landmark and Scott Equity, in conjunction with the Van Wert County Farm Bureau, held Saturday at Vantage Career Center.

Volunteer firefighters from a number of area communities were taught basic confined space rescue techniques by George Lovell, a Detroit city firefighter with 17 years of experience in closed space rescues.

The four-hour course included a classroom lecture in Vantage’s Community Room, followed by hands-on work with rescue techniques in a grain bin simulator housed in a semi trailer on the Vantage parking lot.

“We realize with the volunteer fire departments that they don’t have the resources (for training), so we have stepped up to the plate to help them with training in this area,” said Ben Snyder, training director for Mercer Landmark.

He and Steve Queen of Scott Equity, who was also at Saturday’s seminar, also sit on a committee that operates a training center in Sidney to provide training for various types of agribusiness-related safety issues.

During Saturday’s training, a volunteer was lowered into waist-deep grain, while other firefighters worked on using equipment to extricate him from the grain.

Snyder said having the firefighters able to experience what it is like to be waist-deep in grain provides them with valuable experience.

“It’s good to experience that first-hand, to realize the real-life hazards,” he said.