When the Jaws of Life don’t work and a man is dying, a little ingenuity and a big engine could prove to be the best combination.
West Springfield and Westfield firefighters pulled a crashed vehicle apart with a fire truck to extricate a seriously injured driver Wednesday, said West Springfield Lt. Andrew Lyne. Paramedics were worried he might not live through the episode, Lyne said.
As West Springfield firefighters were called to a large blaze at the Courtyard by Mariott hotel on Riverdale Street Wednesday afternoon, one engine was sent to the report of a head-on crash on Prospect Avenue just before 3 p.m.
Lyne, the commander of Engine 2, said responders found a car and a large dumpster-hauling truck had collided head-on. The impact of the crash dislodged the engine of the car, spinning it 180 degrees and pushing it into the passenger compartment — something Lyne said he has never seen in 28 years as a firefighter.