A lifesaving tool. That's how Logansport Fire Department Chief Bernie Mittica described the department's newest contraption — a grain rescue tube donated to them Wednesday by The Andersons Clymers Ethanol LLC.
The tube is now the third of its kind in Cass County. Clinton Township Fire Department, which received its tube the same time as LFD, and Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Department have the others.
The donated tubes were part of a three-day classroom training session that representatives from The Andersons put on for the firefighters this past week that dealt specifically with grain bin rescue.
About 700 farms exist in Cass County, according to STATS Indiana, several of which have working grain bins.
A grain entrapment can occur when someone enters a bin during the loading or unloading process and gets stuck when the grain breaks loose or begins to flow, said Jennifer Mehring, specialist for The Andersons.
"Typically, it's going to be your shift in grain," she said. "It can be bridged up. It could have a crust where it looks solid, but underneath it's completely empty. Then they just fall right through."
Mehring also said that though entrapment situations may not happen frequently, they are still more common than people think.
"It's probably more your 'Ma and Pa' family farms just because they don't always understand the full hazards of it and don't have the right equipment to get in them," she said. "They may just hop in there with a shovel or a stick and poke around, and that's typically when something happens."
And it only takes a few seconds to become trapped, as Daniel Scheub, another specialist from The Andersons, explained during the training session.
"You can become engulfed [trapped] in 2-3 seconds," he said. "And if someone's sunk to their waist, it takes up to 400 pounds of force to get them out."
That's where the grain rescue tube comes in handy.
In the event of an entrapment, officials would first place the tube around the individual that's stuck, Scheub said.
"That relieves the pressure of the grain," he said. "The more grain you get away from the person, the better it is. So with the tube, it takes the weight away from them, and it's easier to pull them out."
After placing the tube around the trapped individual, Scheub said first responders can then use various methods to remove the grain still inside the tube, including vacuum hoses.
Once an individual is no longer trapped, first responders can then lift that person out of the tube and on to safety. They could also use the ladder located inside the tube.
LFD firefighter Clayton Freels saw firsthand how the grain rescue tube worked when he was with the Royal Center Volunteer Fire Department a few years ago.
"We got a call that someone was stuck inside a grain bin about waist deep," he said. "We got on scene and had to call [Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Department] for a grain rescue tube. We ended up using the tube to stick around him and then used a Shop-Vac to get the grain out."
Because when someone is trapped, every second matters, Freels continued. And that's why having grain rescue tubes at three different departments around the county instead of just one is critical.
"The big thing is now we have one in the northern part of the county, the southern part of the county and now one here too," he said. "It's really good for the whole community. Hopefully if we do need one, we have one that will be closer to them as opposed to just having one up north because seconds really do matter."
LFD Assistant Chief Mark Strong agreed.
"It'll be nice to have one centrally located that we can just throw in the truck and head toward Galveston or anywhere else in the county now," he said. "We'll let dispatch know we have it. That way, we can get it utilized and have it centrally located for everyone to use."
The firefighters still have to physically train with the grain rescue tube, something that Scheub said would likely happen at The Andersons Clymers Ethanol Plant sometime this spring. But for right now, the specialist said he's just happy that The Andersons are able to be a part of something that will ultimately help the entire county.
"It's commitment to the community," he said. "It's part of our mission statement. That's why we get involved because it's not just protecting us, it's protecting the community."