News
More grain bin rescue tubes awarded, four lives saved
Nationwide Insurance is awarding grain rescue tubes to 48 more rural fire departments as part of its grain bin safety campaign, for a total of 200.
Jason Berkland, associate vice president of risk management, says the tubes have saved four lives since 2014 when the campaign began, “Gratefully, there’s been four rescues with the tubes that we’ve distributed so far and that’s amazing news. A lot of people ask what does that feel like, what does that mean? There’s a lot of high-fives in the office, there’s a lot of excitement. Those stories are always great to hear.”
But, he tells Brownfield Ag News, “We want to prevent them from happening in the first place. The initiative of Grain Bin Safety Week and Think Grain Bin Safety is really to advocate for farmers and grain handlers not to go into the bins. We want to prevent them from happening in the first place.”
Berkland says it’s very likely there were more risks taken in grain bins during the pandemic, with farmers going it alone. Nationwide partners with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety to award the tubes. There were a thousand applicants this year.
- Alexander Rescue Squad, Taylorsville, NC
- Aurelius Volunteer Fire Department, Auburn, NY
- Berlin Fire Department, Berlin, WI
- Bloomington Fire, Bloomington, WI
- Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Cambridge Springs, PA
- Camden-Wyoming Fire Company, Camden, DE
- Citizens Volunteer Fire Company, Fawn Grove, PA
- City of Mount Vernon Fire Department, Mount Vernon, IL
- Clinton-Warren Joint Fire District, Clarksville, OH
- Clontarf Fire Department, Clontarf, MN
- Coggon Fire Department / Linn County District 7, Coggon, IA
- Downs Fire Department, Downs, KS
- East Pembroke Fire Department, Batavia, NY
- Fair Grove Fire Protection District, Fair Grove, MO
- Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department, Fillmore, IN
- Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department, Edinboro, PA
- Friendsville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, Friendsville, MD
- Grundy County Emergency Management, Grundy Center, IA
- Jerome Township Division of Fire, Plain City, OH
- Kewanee Community Fire Protection District, Kewanee, IL
- Larned Fire Department, Larned, KS
- Madelia Fire Department, Madelia, MN
- Malden Fire Department, Malden, MO
- Maxwell Community Volunteer Fire Department, Maxwell, TX
- Mayville Fire & Rescue, Mayville, ND
- Mendon Fire Department, Mendon, IL
- Nemaha County Rural Fire District #4, Bern, KS
- New Baden Fire Protection District, New Baden, IL
- North Bollinger County Fire Protection District, Patton, MO
- North Callaway Fire Protection District, Kingdom City, MO
- Northrop Fire Department, Northrop, MN
- Orlinda Volunteer Fire Department, Orlinda, TN
- Oxford Volunteer Fire Department, Oxford, IA
- Pembina Fire Department, Pembina, ND
- Pikeville Volunteer Fire Department, Pikeville, TN
- Rawlinsville Volunteer Fire Company, Holtwood, PA
- Ripley Fire Department, Ripley, OH
- Ronda Community Volunteer Fire Department, Ronda, NC
- Rugby Volunteer Fire Department, Rugby, ND
- Sargent Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Sargent, NE
- Sequoyah County Rural Fire Protection District #1, Gore, OK
- Sesser Fire Protection District, Sesser, IL
- Shelby Volunteer Fire Department, Medina, NY
- Summit Volunteer Fire Department, Summit, SD
- Tri-County Fire Department, Waller, TX
- Valley View Milling, Seneca, KS
- Willards Volunteer Fire Department, Willards, MD
- Xenia Fire Department, Xenia, IL
