WACO, Texas — The Waco Fire Department has new equipment, which they say will help them work much faster in emergency situations.
The department recently purchased four new sets of eDRAULIC Jaws of Life for a total $112,000. The equipment arrived in January but they are now mounting them on their vehicles and beginning to use them.
During rescue operations of a series crash on I-35 on March 4, Waco firefighters used one of the new pieces of equipment to extricate a person from their vehicle.
Jeremy Downs, an engineer with the Waco Fire Department, said the extrication process took them approximately 37 minutes, which he said is a long time. If it wasn't for the new equipment, he said it might have taken them longer.
One of the major differences in the new equipment is that it's battery operated, rather than the former fuel-powered machine that also needed hoses and generators to connect.
“The faster we can get them out the better, so when you’re not wasting time on three or four minutes hooking the unit up and carrying all the pieces over to put it together. It can make a big difference," Downs said.
Robby Bergerson, emergency operations deputy fire chief, said the new equipment is helpful in many ways.
He said the eDRAULIC Jaws of Life has stronger prying and cutting forces. It's also quiet, which allows firefighters to communicate with each other.
"They also allow the tools which are primarily designed for vehicle rescues to be portable and used for heavy lifting and cutting during a building collapse in the aftermath of severe weather," Bergerson said.
Waco Fire currently has three older sets of tools, which Bergerson said they plan to redistribute to other stations. Bergerson said this means that 13 stations will have equipment.
The department's goal is to replace the old equipment with the new one as it wears out.