Crockett Fire Put Training to Good Use
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT A major accident on the Crockett loop on Tuesday July 5 caused one vehicle to roll over with people trapped inside. Houston County Sheriff Randy Hargrove came across the accident and immediately called for backup.
“Within minutes the Crockett Police Department, the Crockett Fire Department, EMS and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office arrived,” Hargrove wrote on Facebook.
The fire department was able to stabilize the car while opening the top to release the driver trapped inside using hydraulic equipment that cuts through vehicles to release occupants trapped inside.
Crockett Fire Department Chief Jason Frizzell was proud of his team and the response time.
“From the time we were dispatched to the time we had the patient out was 18 minutes. What they did was a technical rescue because they had to set up rescue jacks to stabilize the vehicle while they were cutting. So to have all that set up and have the patient in ambulance care in 18 minutes is pretty good timing,” Frizzell noted.
According to the fire chief, the department had undergone training to update them for just this situation less than a month before.
“Less than a month ago we used a couple of city vehicles that were supposed to be scrapped. It just so happened our training captain set up that training to use the extraction equipment. We don’t use that every day, and I am a firm believer that if you don’t use it, you lose it,” Frizzell explained.
It turned out that this was exactly the training the Fire Department would need on the Crockett loop. The responding firemen told Frizzell the accident was almost exactly what they had trained for and the rescue went more smoothly since it was all fresh in their minds.
The Crockett Fire Department works and trains with other local agencies as they support each other and create a complete “team” for any emergency, sometimes made up of members from different communities.
However, Chief Frizzell lamented the lack of volunteers in the community to support the CFD. According to NonProfitSource.com, approximately 63 million Americans — about 25% of the adult population — volunteer their time, talents, and energy to making a difference. A lack of willing and younger volunteers has hurt local agencies like the Crockett Fire Department even though they offer full training.
“We’re getting older,” Chief Frizzell said. “We need the younger people to come in and start working their way up to take our positions when we leave. We can get them the training they need, we just need an able and willing person that wants to learn and then possibly get a full time job somewhere.”
If you are willing and able, all of the local fire departments are looking for volunteers, and since they work so close together, helping one will help them all.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
