Deaf Firefighter’s Blog

In 2005, my 1997 Saturn SL2 kicked the bucket. Really, I could’ve had it fixed but decided instead to donate it to the fire department so they could practice vehicle extrication. I figured I’d get more money back from the tax deduction that it would’ve cost me to actually fix the damn thing.

I write about it now for three reasons: One, because I got the pictures uploaded. Second, I want to give deaf people different ideas about how they can become involved in their communities and making them safer places. And finally, I want to give deaf people an inside look at how fire departments train and why they do the things they do.

If you have an old car that’s not worth fixing or moving, contact your local fire department. They are usually able to remove the car for you free of charge and since most of them are non-profit organizations, you can claim a tax deduction on the donation. When you donate, ask them to let you observe the exercise and give you the opportunity to ask questions. They may even let you take a whack at tearing your old car apart!

OK: Let’s go! The car before the carnage began. The electronics and the alternator were shot but everything else was good. They start by putting wood chocks under the wheels to prevent the car from moving. Cribbing is then placed under the car to stabilize it.

To keep glass from exploding, they’ll take out the glass in a controlled way using a glass punch.

In this picture, they’re removing the back door by literally ripping the hinges off the frame of the car.

In this picture, they’re removing sections of the roof to allow rescuers to gain access to patients. Typically, though, they’ll remove the entire roof.

Here, the front windshield is removed. Since the windshield is laminated glass, it cannot simply be punched out. Rescuers need to use saws to cut through the plastic film between the layers of glass. The film prevents glass from shattering into the car in an accident so it’s a good thing.

After they remove all the doors, the trunk, the roof and the hood, this is what’s left of my car.

Instant Convertible.

As for me, I was working on ripping apart the other car but was able to drive a halligan bar into my old car a few times. ) But to give you an idea of how training is done in fire departments, it’s usually monkey-see, monkey-do types of things. Additionally, it’s usually so loud between the fire trucks running nearby, the chatter and the noise of the hydraulic tools (jaws of life), that a good amount of instruction is done using hand gestures.

(me in the foreground to the right)