A Macomb High School project called Flowers for Farm Safety will help the Macomb Fire Department buy some new equipment.
Students in Flowers for Farm Safety helped create flower arrangements that people could order and have delivered.
“I liked it. I really enjoyed seeing all the people and making the flowers, and especially the large amount of money we were able to donate,” said MHS senior Dakota Thorman, who is the project manager.
When the project started in August, they had no fundraising goal.
“We just wanted to raise as much as we could,” Thorman said.
They brought in $7,100, which was donated to the Macomb Fire Department.
“It’s a wonderful donation,” said Assistant Fire Chief Adam Rhoades.
He said the department will buy equipment that will help them rescue someone trapped in a grain bin.
The new equipment will allow them to work on the top of grain bins and use a vertical lift to bring someone out of a bin.
“This one will be able to fit right on top of the bin to utilize and give us a high point anchor so that we can lift individuals that may not be able to climb out once we get them uncovered,” he said.
Rhoades said the Macomb fire department is part of a technical rescue team that also includes members from Canton and Quincy. He said it can be deployed throughout the state to respond to emergencies such as grain bin entrapments.
Rhoades has been involved with a couple rescues at grain bins during his 23 years with the department, including one last summer in Fulton County.
He said people should take precautions before entering a grain bin.
“Don’t go in alone. Make sure someone’s aware of your plan. Utilize harnesses and tag lines so that we can follow that line directly to you if we have to and utilize that to hoist you back out,” Rhoades said.
He also said to test the air to make sure it’s recirculating. And he said to never walk on crusted grain.
“You’re not sure how thick it is, how strong it is. And before you know it, in a split second, you’re buried up to your knees and then it just keeps going from there,” Rhoades said.
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