By W. Clay Crook
Grain Bin Rescue training was offered by the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads (TARS) on January 21 and 22 at the Otto Britt Fairgrounds Building in Lexington. The training was sponsored in part by a grant from a family that had lost two members of their family in a grain bin related accident.
Farmers, young farmers, and first responders from Henderson, Chester, Carroll, Decatur, and Hardin Counties attended the sessions.
The equipment trailer, as well as some other aspects of the training and equipment are sponsored in part by TNCorn and TNSoybean, said Joetta White with TNAgrAbility. Henderson County Director Brian White of UT Extension, said that the training was coordinated by the UT Extension directors for the counties involved, and was a great opportunity. Several times it was mentioned that the best rescue is one that never takes place, so the education emphasis on prevention was a major portion of the training as well.
The TARS State Training Officer, Brian Robinson, conducted four hours of indoor training on Friday evening, followed by indoor training on different scenarios on Saturday morning until temperatures were warm enough for the actual hands-on grain bin rescue exercises.
