Nichols Fire Department seeks donations for rescue trailer
by Margaret Hurlbert
February 15, 2020

NICHOLS, Iowa—Living and working in a rural area, the Nichols Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) knows the importance of having the right tools to help people in agricultural emergencies. “We’re such an ag community, right now and every fall and spring we hear about ag emergencies in our area and we want to respond as quickly as we can,” said Kevin Flynn Fire Chief for the NVFD. At the February Nichols City Council meeting Feb. 12, the NVFD shared their progress on creating an Ag Rescue Trailer and asked the community for their support to help bring the project to completion.

Several years ago, the NVFD received a donation of grain bin rescue supplies from Grinnell Mutual, including rescue sleeves, harnesses, ropes, and helmets. Inspired by the donation, the NVFD set about acquiring all the equipment they would need to make grain bin rescues. Using other donations, the NVFD purchased a corn auger, which removes grain from a grain bin faster than firefighters with buckets.

While the NVFD has the equipment to assist in agricultural emergencies, they lack a convenient way to transport it. To address this problem, the NVFD began raising the money to purchase a trailer, which they could easily pull to a farm behind their brush truck. The NVFD identified a six by 12-foot trailer as their best option, which will cost them around $3,150.

So far, the NVFD has received about $2,200 in donations from several local and regional businesses, including Burt’s Tavern, Gayle Kaalberg, Greg Martin Insurance, Pike Run Services, Terra Products, and Wiele Chevrolet. If you would like to donate, Flynn encourages you to email him at kwf911@ymail.com or attend the first ever NVFD pancake breakfast on March 15th from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m.

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