Lamar, SC
Published: February 19, 2010
Darlington County Fire District Station 14
The Messenger

A fire truck’s flashing lights glimmer on the crumpled metal of overturned vehicles that appear to have been in an accident near Interstate 20. Drivers and passengers could be trapped inside one sedan on its side and another upside down.

Darlington County Fire District Station 14 responded, or they would have if it was a real accident in their coverage area. Station 14 covers I-20 from the Lee county line to the Florence county line, Highway 401 and many accident prone roads.

This night, Feb. 8, no lives were stake. The firefighters were practicing with recently purchased extrication equipment. The station purchased the $30,000 of equipment, which includes a complete set of hydraulic rescue tools and vehicle stabilization equipment, through years of fundraising efforts.

“We feel that we are truly giving back to the community by purchasing this equipment and becoming proficiently trained in using it,” Station 14 Fire Chief Jason J. Bell wrote in a letter to Darlington County Council member Marvin Le Flowers, who observed the training session.  “It is very humbling to know that members of the Darlington County Council are interested in what we do to serve the citizens of Darlington County,” Bell said.   

The training focused on vehicle stabilization, the foundation for vehicle extrication, and the Res-Q-Jacks. These jacks are stabilization struts to stabilize vehicles that are overturned, on their side, on top of one another among other applications, he said. This equipment can lift cars, trees or other objects that may have someone trapped. 

“Firefighters can face many challenging stabilization scenarios. This is an extremely important part of vehicle rescue,” Bell said. “It keeps the firefighters, EMS workers and the patients safe.”

Bell also wanted to thank Darlington County Fire District Chief David Williamson, Training Officer Perry Kelly, Southern Auto Parts for allowing them to train with their vehicles on their site, Trey Watson of Darlington County Fire District Station 14 and Darlington County Extrication Team, Jeff Burr of the Hartsville Fire Department and Darlington County Extrication Team for instructing the training, Victory Steel LLC for allowing them to use their demo equipment,  Deputy Chief for Darlington County Fire District Kenny Stratton, members of Station 14, numerous other volunteers for their hard work in assisting with the raising of the funds to purchase the equipment and most importantly the citizens and visitors of Darlington County who gave donations. 

“Without money donated from the community none of the above purchases would have been possible,” Bell said.

Bell added that he would like to extend the training throughout the entire fire district to ensure all members of the fire district will be better prepared for accidents that may occur.

Members of Darlington County Fire District Station 14 train for vehicle stabilization and vehicle extrication events outside Lamar on Feb. 8.

  By Lisa Chalian-Rock, Editor