Last Updated on August 5, 2021 by New Waverly Fire Department
NEW WAVERLY, IN – Grain bin rescues are highly hazardous, require special training and equipment to perform, and in many areas are not within the capabilities of initial responding units to perform. Thanks to a donation from The Andersons, Cass County has another department equipped to perform this type of operation.
One August 4, 2021 Butch Hendrix trained a group of 15 NWFD personnel on the Grain Bin Rescue environment. Rocky Buffum, Chief of the New Waverly Fire Department, explained he was excited to have the expertise of Hendrix available. “Hendrix is a nationally recognized instructor with almost 40 years of experience including time as a Fire Chief, Law Enforcement and industry rescue teams. We thank Kokomo Grain for making him available to us.” Training included learning about the environment, hazards, equipment and personnel needed to perform these rescues and tactics.
Buffum further thanked the Andersons for their donation of equipment. “This is an investment of more than $3,000 to further enhance the capabilities of our department without additional expenditure of tax dollars. Without the support of this community partner, this project would not have likely happened.”
The New Waverly Fire Department recently completed a Rope Rescue Operations Certification course. Buffum explained community members saw the departments efforts and wanted to support them going further. “Grain bin rescue wasn’t something that we had been thinking about, but community members saw the need and recognized our commitment to training and service. When we brought the idea back to our members, they were excited to add yet another skillset to our departments portfolio of services.”
Hendrix remarked it is great to see small rural department with members willing to put in the time and dedication to develop this sort of capability. “It has a lot of uses, and there is a lot of potential for scenarios that use these skill sets. Many departments don’t have funding or member participation to develop these types of capabilities.”
New Waverly is not the first or only department in the county to receive this type of equipment or training. Buffum shared it is still important to develop capabilities in this area. “These can be manpower intensive events. It won’t be a single department response. The more departments we have trained ready to go, the better the outcomes for our citizens in their time of need.”
NWFD personnel will be conducting additional training, including hands on evolutions, before putting the equipment fully in service.
SOURCE: News release from New Waverly Fire Department
