Hugo VFD to hold grain bin simulation Monday

Hugo Fire Department Chief Johnny Craft, center, shakes hands with farmer Alonza Gray, who helped the department get the America’s Farmers Grow Communities Monsanto grant, which will be used for the grain bin simulation Monday. Standing next to the two is Kyle Radford, the elevator manager for the Southeast Grain Company. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

There’s nothing like this demonstration in the area.

The Hugo Volunteer Fire Department will conduct a grain bin rescue simulation Monday. For farmers, the possibility of a grain bin mishap exists and Hugo VFD Fire Chief Johnny Craft said the closest area with the equipment the team will use is in Cumberland and Dare counties.

“A person in a grain bin can succumb to being sucked in,” Craft said. “It’s like quicksand — the more you move around then worse it gets and the grain compresses the chest, making it tougher to breathe. We have equipment to suck the grain away from the victim and during our simulation, we’ll have a rescue mannequin to practice on.”

Kyle Radford, the elevator manager for the Southeast Grain Company, said he hopes the Hugo VFD won’t have to use the equipment any time soon, but the experience will be great.

“This is the only one anywhere close to Lenoir County, and it’s important to keep our farmers safe,” Radford said. “This will have a lot of great benefits.”

Farmer Alonza Gray said he believes the Hugo VFD will put the training to great use if it is needed.

“We wanted to give them the opportunity to use the equipment for rescue,” Gray said. “There’s no telling who it could save in the future, so this was a way to test it out.”