The Winside (Nebraska) Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department has a new piece of equipment that its members hope they’ll never have to use. But if a grain entrapment does occur, they’ll be better prepared.

“It’s comforting to know that the grain rescue tube is at our disposal if the need ever arises,” says Winside Fire Chief Don Skokan.

He applied for a Liberty Grain Rescue Tube last fall, after reading an article in Successful Farming magazine about an opportunity to receive a free tube and training. A grain rescue tube protects a partially trapped victim while the rescue is under way.

After Skokan was notified that Winside was the lucky recipient, Purdue University instructor Stephen Wettschurack conducted a daylong training program for about 50 fire and rescue volunteers from neighboring communities at nearby Loup City.