Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County. It looked like a multiple vehicle crash on a midwest highway during an ice storm. Vans and sedans and SUVs and pickup trucks ending up on top of each other, upside down, side to side and t-boned. Smashed windshields and crumpled hoods, accordioned bodies and glass and metal parts spewed all over the ground.

The firefighters stood around the devastation and discussed the situation, sipping from water bottles and examining safe ways to get the victims out of the wrecks. A total of 22 wrecks littered the Station 3 parking lot.

It was Saturday afternoon and Timberline Fire Protection District hosted the extrication exercise which included Timberline Fire, Nederland Fire, Golden Gate Fire, Central City Fire, and Black Hawk Fire.

Forty-eight people, including the firefighters, instructors, and support staff participated in the event. The firefighters wore their bunker gear, which was extremely uncomfortable in the gorgeous bright sunshine day.

TFPD’s Board President said there were five common extrication scenarios set up. The first one was a car sitting upright; the firefighters had to remove the doors, roof, trunk lid and hood.

The second scenario was a pickup truck or van on its side resting against another one. The door and roof were removed in that one.

The third was one car resting on top of one end of another car. Again, the doors and roof were removed. The forth was an overturned car, where the doors and sometimes the roof was removed. With all four scenarios, vehicle stabilization was practiced.

The fifth was a car that already had the roof and doors removed and members practiced patient extrication. Central City Fire Chief Gary Allen volunteered his body as the patient to be saved.

Timberline funded the costs for the exercise and High Country Auxiliary provided food for both breakfast and lunch. The instructors  donated their time.

The instructors were career firefighters with West Metro Fire. The other instructors all from West Metro were Paul Ondr, Firefighter Barcewski, Lieutenant Biery, Lieutenant Kornegay, and Firefighter Kennedy.

Brandon Daruna, Gilpin Ambulance's Director, was teaching the patient extrication in the engine room.

Gilpin Ambulance provided Medic 1 for the entire exercise so that if something went wrong there was an ambulance crew on standby.

The hydraulic powered tools that the participants used are the spreaders, cutters, and a ram.

These are the common extrication tools used in the fire service. Recruit Megan Bell tried her hand at using the spreader and said, "It was heavy, but I could do it." Stabilization struts were implemented in situations where the vehicles were lodged in dangerous sites.

Currently, Timberline has about 50 members on the roster and are always seeking more.

irefighters Aaron Skeen and Paul Ondr organized the event and facilitated the training. TFPD Board President Jim Crawford said, "Both of them went above and beyond to make this happen and are still working on the cleanup and getting the cars back. We also would like to thank Jeffery Perryman, who provided a forklift to move the cars at the station, along with several days of labor running the forklift for us. Rick Crawford of Black Hawk Towing provided about four of the cars along with delivering and picking up those cars."

Learning how to use the extrication tools and experiencing the metal ripping action of assisting someone trapped in a vehicle is invaluable training for the people who are first responders at an accident scene.

Multi-agency training has become a common practice among mountain fire districts, developing personal experience and a sense of teamwork and cooperation among the departments.