Agtegra Facilitates Propane and Petroleum Training for Aberdeen Rural Fire Department

Apr 27, 2023


Agtegra hosted a propane and petroleum training for the Aberdeen Rural Fire Department on April 18 at the Aberdeen Propane bulk plant. Agtegra employees, in conjunction with Brick Propane, provided the 15 firefighters in attendance with an overview of fuel and propane transport vehicles and general fuel and propane safety.

Aberdeen Rural Fire Department is a volunteer fire department that responds to fires in the Aberdeen Rural Fire Protection District. The district consists of area townships just outside Aberdeen city limits.

During the training, Agtegra Propane Service Technician Rick Hovde and Agtegra Fuel Driver Wade Schwan demonstrated important features of their respective transport vehicles, such as where bill of ladings and emergency shutoffs are located, what each asset’s capacities are and what each hazmat placard means. Additionally, both employees, alongside Brick Propane Driver Clark Overbey, explained hazards of the products their vehicles carry.

While Aberdeen Rural Fire Department does not respond to incidents with fuel or propane transport vehicles very often, the training provided the department with the understanding of how to respond when an accident does occur.

“We try to do trainings like this one every few years to refresh our team on these procedures,” said Aberdeen Rural Fire Department Training Captain Stuart Donaldson.

The department reached out to Agtegra to provide the training because of the cooperative’s use of both fuel and propane transport vehicles. Agtegra team members Hovde, Schwan, Energy Operations Manager Josh Lunzman and Regional Safety and Environmental Manager Andy Clemen answered questions the department had about fuel and propane characteristics that are especially important during emergency situations or accidents.

“We don’t have hydrants in our areas, so we have to approach situations a little differently than a city department would because we have limited water supply,” said Donaldson.

Agtegra’s value of safety is demonstrated through our commitment to supporting educational programming such as this training.

“Any time we can cross-train and learn from each other is key to keeping the communities we live in and roads we drive on safe,” said Lunzman. “We all have family members driving the same roads as trucks hauling hazardous materials. Keeping everyone trained and safe aligns with Agtegra’s core values,” said Lunzman.

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