First Long Island Tournament of Its Kind to Use Electric Tools to Cut up the Vehicles

In support of local fire departments, Gershow Recycling donated the use of 30 cars for the Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament, which was held at the Northport Fire Department’s Training Grounds at Steer’s Pit in Northport on May 14. Gershow also donated the use of its Huntington facility to enable teams to practice in the week leading up to the tournament.
Twenty teams from thirteen fire departments participated in the tournament, which involved groups of five firefighters working to extricate a “victim” from a “crash” using the Jaws of Life. This year marked the first time the firefighters used battery-powered tools during the extrication exercises; the Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament was the first such tournament to bring in electric tools.

Each team was judged on the amount of time it took to perform the extrication, the handling of equipment and the safety procedures they followed. The top three teams were:
- 1st Place — Northport FD Team #1 (7 minutes, 52 seconds)
- 2nd Place — Ridge FD (8 minutes, 15 seconds)
- 3rd Place — North Bellmore FD (8 minutes, 25 seconds)
After the tournament, the vehicles were brought back to Gershow’s facility, where they were shredded and recycled.








Pictured are Eric Kugler (left), Manager, Gershow Recycling, and O’dell Bartholomew (right), a member of Frederick Douglass Academy VII High School’s Class of 2021. Mr. Bartholomew was awarded a one-time scholarship in the amount of $1,000 from Gershow Recycling. As a leading environmental recycling company, Gershow awards the competitive scholarship to graduating seniors who have displayed exemplary efforts in the fields of environmental science or engineering while in high school and plan to continue to pursue higher education degrees in either of these areas of study.

Pictured are Rob McGinnis (left), Manager, Gershow Recycling, and Preethi Krishnamoorthy (right), a member of Herricks High School’s Class of 2021. Ms. Krishnamoorthy was awarded a one-time scholarship in the amount of $1,000 from Gershow Recycling. As a leading environmental recycling company, Gershow awards the competitive scholarship to graduating seniors who have displayed exemplary efforts in the fields of environmental science or engineering while in high school and plan to continue to pursue higher education degrees in either of these areas of study.
