Story By DRUW GIAMALVA

The Boaz Fire Department had a special week of training at the Bama Pro Tow, as firefighters worked on their skills with extraction and breaking down a car when a citizen is stuck in one. 

“The key is extraction, there is no wrong or right way in attacking a car. You never know exactly what you are going to get into, so it just gives them a familiarization with their tool and how to handle it and be more efficient with it when someone is trapped, and we need to get to them,” said Boaz Fire Department Lt. Sammy Scott. 

Scott led the young group of firefighters into training how to break down a car for extraction, as they used the “Jaws of Life” to break open doors, tear off the roof and separated more space between the driver seat and dashboard, which would widen the opening for extrication. 

“I am very proud of them, they worked hard. You can see the sweat on these boys, they train hard. This keeps them comfortable in this environment. Very thankful for Bama Pro Tow, they’ve done this for years with us. They have always provided us with anything we needed. They are just a great group to have in our community,” Scott said. 

Overseeing the training was Boaz Fire Department Captain Greg Gentry, who was proud of the hard work and training that his group of firefighters were putting in.

“Extremely proud of every one of them. They work and train hard. I trust them all on anything we have. This training is extremely important, as we got a lot of young guys now. For us, this is how we have to get our training in. We are extremely thankful for Bama Pro Tow. They have been good to us and allowed us to come up here anytime we want to,” Gentry said.