Valley Volunteer Fire Department receives an upgrade in equipment [Video]

FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) – The Valley Volunteer Fire Department now has new battery powered extrication tools that many know as The Jaws of Life.

The department’s old tools are still in use, but the new advanced ones will save precious time in efforts to save lives throughout the area. Cpt. Zac Eakle is very excited about what these new tools will do when it comes to saving lives in vehicle accidents or fires.

“We run about 300 vehicle accidents a year on Interstate 79,” he said.

“Some of them do require immediate extrication of a patient that’s stuck inside a vehicle. So if we go to a battery powered tool, your grabbing the tool off the truck, you make sure the battery is in, and you hit the power button and your cutting. Your looking at a three to five minute window from extrication tools that are run on battery power to …