Firefighters and farmers have different jobs, but both face risks as part of their everyday duties. Pittsville Fire Chief Jerry Minor encourages farmers to invite their local department on farm. Historically, many rural departments had members who grew up on farms, but that has changed. He provides insight into what it’s like responding to emergencies and how they’re working to be ready to respond to emergencies in rural areas.
“The more training opportunities you can get your people through, the more comfortable they will be,” says Minor. “The severity of incidents on farms is such that they may be low frequency, but when they happen, they are high risk. We train our fire and EMS personnel so that they are prepared for the scenarios they’re getting into.”
Debris burning is the number one cause of wildfires in Wisconsin and Minor says Spring is their busiest season. The Pittsville Fire Department covers 300 square miles and responds to about 400 calls a year.
With that many calls, it’s important to know the correct protocols and have the proper training. Minor says they have a protocol for just about everything. Their response to a car accident is very different than a farm accident.
He says, “When we go to a car accident routinely, we get used to how to manage those issues on scene. But when it comes to a farm, there are a lot more variables at play that we may not be as familiar with.”
In order to be prepared for these Minor and his team do a farm familiarization workshop. They work with farmers to tour the farmstead and point out hazards that can get them in trouble as well as the farming community.
He adds, “Quite frankly the same things that can hurt us can hurt them. So it’s a prevention message as well.”
Minor says he has his department do workshops on how to take farm equipment apart. They also do demonstrations on confined spaces accidents such as someone becoming entrapped in a silo. He says it’s important to him that his team is knowledgeable so that the rural community can feel safe.
When it comes to fires, Minor says their biggest issue with any big fire is the temperature extremes and staffing. When it is 80 degrees outside and they respond to a fire, personnel need to be rehabbed often.
“Once a firefighter has been in the fire for a certain amount of time they are taken to a rehab area,” Minor says. “There their vitals are checked, they’re rehydrated, and have to sit for a certain amount of time before they can get back into the fire area. We don’t have the numbers of firefighters like we used to. So we really have to take care of our own even more than we ever have before.”
Minor encourages farmers to invite their local fire departments out to the farm. He says a huge part of what they need to do relies on familiarity of farm environments.
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