Members of Leachville Fire Department joined Manila firefighters on Saturday, Oct. 22, for an all day training session.

The equipment was purchased through a joint effort raising $17,000 for the needed equipment.

"Grain bins are all around us," Manila Fire Chief Tracey Reinhart said.

The firemen met on Thursday evening and invited people who had helped with the purchase to view the trailer and eqiupment.

Donations came from Cox Pirani Farms (Dino Pirani); David and Justin Wildy (Wildy Family Farms); Chris Bennett with Agxplore; Gene Adams with Adams Farms; and Jared Camp who organized a wrestling fundraising event.

Also the citizens of Manila supported the efforts as the firefighters held a Boston butt sale, car wash and boot collection road block.

Fire Chief Reinhart expressed his appreciation to all of the contributors and members of the fire department for their efforts in acquiring the rescue equipment.

Westby fireman Eric Nottestad applied for the grain rescue tube grant on behalf of the Westby-Christiana Fire Department. The annual contest encourages nominations of first responders whose communities would benefit from winning a tube and training. It asks departments to describe how they would share the tube and training information with nearby fire departments. This year's contest generated a record 641 nominations and will provide tubes and training to 19 fire departments across 14 states -- another record.

Westby-Christiana Fire Department Chief Gilbert Turben said winning the grain rescue tube was a win-win for the department which is located in the heart of rural America and an area blessed with many varieties of grain holding and production facilities. He said the training they received on Oct. 5 was very informative and provided his department with information completely new to them.