Marble Falls VFD hand delivers Jaws of Life to Tennessee department
Members of the Camp Creek Fire Department in Tennessee and two members of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department stand behind the Jaws of Life that the Marble Falls department donated to the Greeneville department. Courtesy photo
Two members of the Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department traveled over 18 hours and 1,000 miles on April 15 to deliver lifesaving crash rescue equipment to the Camp Creek Volunteer Fire Department in Greeneville, Tennessee. The donated tool, known as the Jaws of Life, is used to free people trapped inside vehicles after an accident.
Marble Falls captains Thomas Jacobs and Cole Davis made the trip to The Volunteer State.
“We had some stuff sitting around the station, like the hydraulic extraction equipment sitting around, and Chief (Michael Phillips) wanted me to get rid of it,” Jacobs said. “I asked him if we could donate it. He said, ‘Yeah, just get rid of it.’”
Jacobs made some phone calls in his search for potential suitors.
“I talked to a friend of mine and asked if he knew of any departments that could use the equipment, and he told me about a department in Tennessee that could definitely use it,” Jacobs said.
The Marble Falls department first planned to ship the tool to Greeneville via the postal service but decided it was much cheaper to drive the 1,000-plus miles and hand deliver it.
The road trip served two purposes.
“I was asked if I’d be willing to come and teach them how to use it one weekend,” Jacobs said, “so me and (Davis) decided to just go out there ourselves and do it then. When we got there, nobody knew how to even hold them.”
It didn’t take long for the Camp Creek firefighters to get the hang of it.
“By the time we left, they were ready to cut the (test vehicle) into pieces,” Jacobs said. “They got so comfortable and confident using it. That’s how good they were.”
The department’s gratitude was evident, Jacobs said.
“They were blown away that we’d even do that and take the time out of our weekend to do that,” he said.
Jacobs commended his chief for sanctioning the donation in the first place.
“It’s awesome knowing that we have the support and the leadership that allows us to do stuff like this,” he said. “Chief Phillips deserves credit for even allowing it to happen. He could have easily said, ‘No, it’s not worth our time,’ but he didn’t.”
The donation was made with the assistance of Firefighters Helping Fighters Only, a Facebook group that helps fire departments distribute unneeded equipment to underserved stations nationwide.