The Montgomery Fire Protection District was recently awarded some rescue equipment that will help people who are trapped in grain bins.

The fire department received six grain bin rescue tubes, also known as the Great Walls of Rescue, after Chief Jessica Davis applied for them during Feb. 16-20, which was Grain Bin Safety Week.

“Nationwide partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council and they worked together to get these applications filled out and recommendations to nominate the fire district,” Davis said. “We got one this year and so did Martinsburg.”

On June 3, the fire district held a training on using the grain bin rescue tubes that lasted for several hours at the firehouse. Brian Freese of the National Education Center of Agricultural Safety conducted the training, which was attended by Davis and other firefighters such as Cody Fortmann, Jeff Zerr, Jim Cline, Neal Davis, Johnnie Powell, Jim Davis, Tyler Dean, Cali Fortmann, Mike Skaggs and Michael Lipka.

First, Freese discussed the equipment with the firefighters for almost two hours, then he taught them how to use the equipment. Firefighters learned how to rescue a person when he or she gets stuck inside the grain. They used all six grain bin rescue tubes, plus an auger pipe, which is used to break up clogs in the grain. It will have to take two firefighters to rescue a person from a grain bin.

A grain bin rescue tube weighs 23 lbs and costs over $2,000.

“I think they’re awesome,” Davis said. “I used them in Indianapolis during training at the International Fire Instructor Conference (a few years ago) on them. So when I saw this, I was like, ‘We should get one if we can get it for free.’”

Davis, who has been chief of the Montgomery Fire Protection District for over a year, recently applied for a $10,000 grant from the State Farm Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program. Davis said there will be 150 grants given out and she hopes one of those grants will be given out to her fire department.

“Fingers crossed,” Davis said.