Firefighters and EMS personnel regularly train to meet the challenges involved in responding to residential fires and motor vehicle crashes.
However, they often encounter new and more difficult challenges when responding to accidents on Wisconsin farms.
“I grew up on a farm, and the equipment now is much larger,” said Pittsville Fire Chief Jerry Minor, who’s spent 43 years in the fire service. “We had a two-row corn picker, now they have 12-row combines.”
Minor noted that farm equipment also is built much stronger than what firefighters are normally used to in dealing with motor vehicle accidents.
“When we have people trapped in cars we can usually pry the car apart,” he said. “The equipment we use for that doesn’t always work the same way on farm equipment. So we often end up actually taking the machine apart to get people out rather than tearing it apart like we would do on a car.”