Manilla Fire and Rescue

03/29/2026

03/28/2026

Don’t forget about tomorrow morning. We hope to see you there

02/05/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 5th, 2026
Charter Oak Grain Bin Incident

On Thursday, February 5, 2026 at approximately 9:53 AM, the Crawford County Communications Center was notified of an individual who had possibly become trapped in a grain bin near Charter Oak.

Due to the complexity and urgency of the incident, a countywide all-call was performed to ensure that appropriate equipment, personnel and resources were responding to the scene, including the Dow City Fire Department with a grain vacuum. Additional resources and personnel from Harrison County were also requested.

First arriving personnel confirmed with bystanders that the victim was still trapped in the grain bin and no contact had been made with the victim. First arriving personnel began cutting access holes into the side of the grain bin to facilitate grain removal.

An air medical helicopter was requested to the scene while the victim was being extricated from the grain bin. Rescue operations continued utilizing all available resources until the victim was successfully extricated from the grain bin.

Following extrication, medical personnel immediately initiated life saving measures on scene. Despite these efforts, the victim was declared deceased at the scene by medical personnel.

The victim has been identified as 83-year-old Robert Kroll of Charter Oak. Mr. Kroll’s family has been notified.

Responding agencies include:

Crawford County Memorial Hospital Ambulance
Crawford County Sheriff’s Office
Crawford County Emergency Management
Charter Oak Fire Department
Denison Fire Department
Deloit Fire Department
Dow City Fire Department
Manilla Fire Department
Ricketts Fire Department
Schleswig Fire Department
Vail Fire Department
Dunlap Fire Department
Dunlap Ambulance
Woodbine Fire Department
LifeFlight 3 – Audubon
Anderson’s Ethanol – Additional Grain Vacuum

All responding agencies extend their deepest condolences to Mr. Kroll’s family and friends.

There will be no additional press releases issued.

Media Contact:
Zach Rasmussen
Coordinator
Crawford County Emergency Management Agency
712-263-3195
[email protected]

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01/22/2026

Talk about Iowa Weather. High winds came up quickly today causing some issues with high profile vehicles. We were paged out to Hwy 59 early this afternoon, for a semi that was blown over. Our services were not needed.

As we were backing into the station, we were paged again for another semi that had blown over about a mile north of the previous one. This driver required extrication from the cab with no injuries. We stayed on scene to assist with traffic control as there was multiple scenes.

Look at the same picture minutes apart.

11/21/2025

We did a live fire training tonight with one of our mutual aid departments, Irwin Fire. Primary focus tonight was radio communication, vertical ventilation, search and interior attack. This roof from the outside looks like a single roof until we opened it up.

11/14/2025

Today, November 14th, all of our ambulance members attended the Iowa State Emergency Medical Services Association (IEMSA) conference in Des Moines.

Continuing education like this is vital for our members. It allows our crew to learn the latest skills, refresh knowledge and bring back new ideas to strengthen the level of care we provide to our community.

We want to extend a very sincere thank you to our community for your continued support. Your investment into our ambulance and crew makes it possible to grow, learn and serve our community better every day.
(Left to Right, Karen, Zach, Jared, Manny, Lana, Corey, Skyler, Steve, Kelsie)