Fire and rescue uses jaws of life training

The West End Fire and Rescue Department responded to an accident on the eastbound lane of Interstate 90 Sunday evening, and utilized some newly acquired training and equipment.

“Everything went really well. Everybody knew what they needed to know and they did it,” said West End Fire Chief Bruce Charles.

Around 10 p.m. firefighters responded to the incident near mile marker one on I-90, in which a car with one male occupant was pinned against the interstate railing.

“It was dark and cold and rainy,” Charles said.

There was no way to remove the driver from the vehicle because the doors were pinned closed, so Charles said the rescue team used hydraulic cutting instruments to remove the roof of the car.

The driver also sustained a back injury, so the removal of the roof allowed the team to move him without further injury to his back.

Charles said that without the hydraulic cutting implements used in the rescue, the situation could have been much more dire.

“It would have been extremely difficult and dangerous for him. We would have had to bend him to get him out and when a person has a back injury we’re very concerned about further damage to the spinal cord,” Charles said.

Three rescue vehicles responded to the incident, including the department’s newly renovated “crash truck.” The crash truck is a revamped ambulance stocked with equipment used in vehicle crash situations.

Many of the tools used to stock the crash truck were acquired through an Aid to Firefighters Grant Program, sponsored and funded by Homeland Security.

The West End Volunteer Fire Department got the grant earlier this year and used it to purchase the new wreck equipment.

Last weekend the department spent five hours training with Craig Jeppson from the Montana Fire Training School, based out of the University of Montana in Missoula.

“The Montana Fire Training School is really first class,” Charles said.

Charles said that even with all of their training and work, they cannot save everyone’s life, especially on the dangerous stretch of I-90 near Lookout Pass.

“My opinion is that people are not cautious enough,” Charles said.

He added that especially at this time of year, when patches of ice alternate with patches of wet road, drivers often move too fast along I-90, putting themselves and others at risk.

“It’s very dangerous and of course with the intermittent ice and that sort of thing it’s even more dangerous. People think they are on a pavement that is just wet and they come around a corner and all of a sudden it’s ice. If you aren’t being very careful you can get into trouble,” Charles said.

Charles said that there was no evidence to his crew that the driver in Sunday’s crash was under the influence of alcohol, and it is most likely that he was simply driving too quickly.

The driver was transported to the Mineral County Hospital to be treated for his injuries.