Firefighters Train With New Tools

New Equipment Helps Firefighters Get Trapped Victims Out of Vehicles

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Throughout July, the Duluth Fire Department will practice using their new and more powerful tools to help rescue trapped victims of vehicle accidents.

The equipment was paid for through a $161,000 FEMA grant.

Firefighters say the development of cars over time has created more of a challenge when freeing trapped drivers.

“Cars are designed to collapse as they’re impacted, but that’s not true to the compartment where the driver and passenger are sitting, they are designed to stay intact and have gotten much stronger over the years,” explained Captain Scott Kleive with the Duluth Fire Department.

The new cutters can cut over 100,000 more pounds than the old cutters could.