The West Plains Fire Department has been named the recipient of grain rescue equipment and training from Nationwide insurance company in partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) and Wiley Insurance Agency of West Plains, which co-sponsored the initiative, sharing the cost with Nationwide.
Traci Wiley, owner of Wiley Insurance, was motivated to get the equipment after realizing the need for safe training for rural firefighters, who might not have ready access to training and equipment that is more readily available to larger departments in urban areas.
Wiley was appointed to the Missouri Fire Safety Education/Advisory Commission in 2019 by Gov. Mike Parson, and was the first woman appointed to the organization. As the daughter of rural firefighters Ella and Leland Stephens, she spent a lot of time as a child sitting in on rescue and first responder training given by her mother. That also provided her with an understanding of the unique needs of rural departments and she is an advocate for those departments, taking into consideration their budget limitations and difficulty in attending classes that might be held hours away.
When Wiley realized area fire departments were practicing grain bin rescues but borrowing the equipment, she gladly contributed to safe, readily available training.
“They put their lives on the line for us every day; it’s the least we can do for them,” she reminded.
Wiley has a special respect for the dangers firefighters and first responders face while protecting the public — Ella Stephens sustained life-threatening injuries from a severe electrical shock suffered from a downed electrical line while fighting a grass fire in 1999 as a volunteer with Howell Rural Fire District No. 1.
The new rescue equipment will be housed at the West Plains Fire Department, but available to all departments in Region G, which includes Howell and surrounding counties as well as Carter and Reynolds counties. Training will be held July 12 at the West Plains Fire Department.
Grain bin entrapments can happen when a worker is either pulled into grain that is being allowed to flow from the bottom of a bin, creating suction; inadvertently covered with grain filling the bin from above; or when standing on an area of grain that is packed together and suddenly collapses, pulling the victim downward.
A person can become trapped when grain reaches knee level and needs assistance when it reaches waist level. A specialized rescue is required when grain reaches chest level, and total engulfment resulting in suffocation can happen in minutes.
“Grain bin accidents send shockwaves through rural communities as farmers and grain handlers know all too well how quickly entering a grain bin can turn deadly. To help prevent these accidents that result in dozens of lives lost each year, Nationwide is providing life-saving resources to rural America’s first responders,” Nationwide officials said.
West Plains is one of 58 departments awarded nationally with grain rescue tubes and training, in partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), chosen from 1,800 nominations from 45 states.
