Dexter Fire Department donates old ‘Jaws’ to Garland FD

    DEXTER — It has been a good year for the Dexter Fire Department when it comes to getting new equipment,  but not without a lot of  hard work by the members of the department and town leaders to make these purchases happen.

Photo courtesy of LeAnn Stocker

    JAWS DONATION — The Dexter Fire Department recently donated their older Jaws of Life extrication device to the Garland Fire Department. Pictured, from left, are Dexter Fire department members Jacob Vega, Chris Tilton, Stephen Brown, Rick Stocker, Lewis Easler, Dick Sawyer, Danny Grant, Dick Gudroe, Barry Deering, Steve Bailey, Ronald Grant, Shawn McCormick, Justin Taylor, Everett Hibbard and Matt Connor. Garland firefighters, from left, are Henry Burrill, Les Burrill and Danny Adams.

    Earlier this year, the department was able to purchase 12 new self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA), thanks to a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) issued to the town. This allowed the department to replace the 20-plus year-old SCBAs they were currently using. Also through hard work, dedication and a challenge from a local non-profit group known as The Plummer Foundation, the department was also able to purchase a new set of Jaws of Life.
    Some towns are not as fortunate. Their numbers are much smaller when it comes to funding and personnel. On Aug. 5 at the Dexter Fire Department’s monthly meeting, they invited a few members from the Garland Fire Department to stop by and “pick up a few things.” As part of the CDBG grant Dexter received, they needed to give the old SCBAs to another department that could benefit from the equipment, so several SCBAs were donated on this night to GFD personnel.
    Also donated on this night was the Dexter Fire Department’s older set of Jaws of Life. This tool will allow GFD personnel to do things they had to call upon other towns to do, which normally takes several minutes for proper equipment to get to the scene of a motor vehicle accident.
    Members of GFD were excited to receive the equipment, and members of the DFD enjoyed helping a mutual aid partner out.