To help prevent grain bin accidents that result in dozens of lives lost each year, Nationwide – a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio – is providing life-saving resources to rural America’s first responders.

In partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, Nationwide awarded 58 fire departments across the country with grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to prepare them to respond when local grain entrapments occur.

After receiving more than 1,800 nominations across 45 states in the annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, a key piece of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, the insurer and its partners awarded grain rescue tubes and training to 58 fire departments – including the Maeystown Fire Department. 

NECAS, based out of Peosta, Iowa, will deliver the rescue tubes and training to the winning fire departments throughout 2022, traveling to each location with state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. 

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