Two Maryland Fire Departments Will Keep Farm Workers Safer, Thanks to Nationwide

Nationwide® continues to be on the farmer’s side with mindful concern about their safety, augmenting the protection they provide through insurance and other services. This month Nationwide awarded 48 fire departments in the U.S. with grain rescue tubes and training, which can help save farm workers who may become entrapped in grain bins. Winners included two Maryland fire departments.  

In a national contest with more than 1,000 applicants, Nationwide® in partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), awarded fire departments based on nominations. Applications stated why the tube and training is needed in their area, and how they could help their neighboring fire departments if they won.

In Maryland, the Friendsville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department in Friendsville and the Willards Volunteer Fire Department in Willards won. Regionally, other winners included:

• Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Cambridge Springs, PA
• Camden-Wyoming Fire Company, Camden, DE
• Citizens Volunteer Fire Company, Fawn Grove, PA
• Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department, Edinboro, PA
• Rawlinsville Volunteer Fire Company, Holtwood, PA.

NECAS, based out of Peosta, Iowa, will deliver the rescue tubes and training to the winning agencies throughout 2021, 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. 

According to researchers at Purdue University, more than 900 cases of grain engulfment have been reported in the past 50 years with a fatality rate of 62%. In 2020, grain entrapments led to 20 deaths.

Maryland Farm Bureau is proud to be a supporter of this program. With 2021 donations included, Nationwide® and partners have supplied these resources to 200 departments across 30 states. At least four fire departments have utilized their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped workers.

Learn more here at Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, a key piece of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign.