Gershow Recycling Donates the Use of 30 Cars for the Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament

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:

• 1^st Place — Northport FD Team #1 (7 minutes, 52 seconds)
• 2^nd Place — Ridge FD (8 minutes, 15 seconds)
• 3^rd 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.