STONELICK TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Firefighters from Stonelick Township Fire Department and Wayne Township Fire and Rescue trained together Saturday morning on how to fight combine and harvester fires, using a working farm as a hands-on classroom ahead of this fall’s harvest.
The joint session was organized and taught by Firefighter Mackenzie Mercer and combined classroom instruction and fire scenarios with a field trip to the Winemiller family farm on Taylor Pike Road, Stonelick Township Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
At the farm, owners Roger and Todd Winemiller showed firefighters a 2022 John Deere combine and walked crews through areas of the machine prone to fire and moving-parts hazards, according to the department.
Ohio ranks fourth nationally for combine fires, according to Ohio State University’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program. Most such fires start in the engine compartment and are traced to faulty wiring, overheated bearings, or leaking fuel or hydraulic fluid, conditions that can ignite quickly when combined with dry chaff and crop residue built up on the machine.
Stonelick Township Fire Department thanked Roger and Todd Winemiller for hosting the training and credited Mercer with coordinating and presenting the session, calling it “just another joint training opportunity between departments.”
The department also used the post to remind drivers to watch for farm equipment on rural and suburban roads as harvest season approaches. “As we move closer to harvest season, when traveling on suburban and rural roads, please be mindful of the farm machinery on the roadways and give them as much space as they need to move down the road,” the department said.
Stonelick Township Fire Department was established in 2006, built on the foundation of the former Owensville Fire Department, and operates two stations in the township. Wayne Township Fire and Rescue, based in the northeastern corner of Clermont County, operates stations along State Route 133 and in Newtonsville.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Stonelick Township Fire Department.