The Valley Grande Volunteer Fire Department will soon have new life-saving tools thanks to a $20,000 donation from the Valley Grande Council.

After hearing the department’s request for the gear Monday, present council members approved with a unanimous vote a $20,000 donation for the purchase of the S700 E2 Cutter and SP300 E2 Spreader.

The equipment will be used to access wreck victims trapped in vehicles, a feat that has become more and more challenging with the department’s current tools.

Councilman Ronald Sawyer was absent from the Monday meeting.

“We at Valley Grande want our guys to have the tools to do the job,” Valley Grande Mayor Wayne Labbe said. “The way I look at it, what’s $20,000 if you talk about a life?”

Vehicles, normally those made in 2006 or later, are built with reinforce steel pipe that better protects its passengers when a wreck occurs.

While the “hard cars” are protective during an accident, they sometimes make it virtually impossible for first responders to access victims trapped inside afterward, according to Capt. Will Dailey with the Valley Grande Volunteer Fire Department.

Dailey said a group of its firefighters recently tested their tools on brand new Volkswagens designed for the testing and were unsuccessful, which inspired them to approach the council with the request they have been contemplating for awhile.

The S700 E2 Cutter is a battery-powered device built with the ability to cut through high-strength steel of current and future vehicle construction, while the SP300 E2 Spreader can grip and penetrate the narrowest gap.

About $10,000 will be extracted from the municipal account and another $10,000 will be taken from the fire accessories account to purchase the items as donations.

Dailey recalled a wreck on Highway 80 that occurred two weeks ago where the spreader and cutter could have easily been needed to get into the vehicle.

“The car withstood the wreck so well that they just climbed out,” Dailey said. “They weren’t trapped. But if they had trapped, we would have been in trouble. There would have been no way to get them out.”

Because the spreader and cutter are battery-powered, it eliminates the three-to-five-minute-process it takes to set up the department’s current hydraulic and gas-powered tools.

“You’re able to remove metal and get a person out rather than bending them or getting them out a different way,” said Chief Billy Barrett, with the Valley Grande Fire Department. “You may be able to cut the metal away without furthering injuries.”

Because these are donations and budgeted through the municipal and the fire accessories account, the Valley Grande Fire Department will not receive some other additional or upgraded items they may have expected this fiscal year.

“We want to feel like these tools are important to them also, and they are,” Labbe said. “They are willing to forego new backpacks or new rubber suits or new jumps or whatever in order to get these tools.”

Officials said there are wiling to lend the tools to any first responders within Dallas County.