Morning Journal/Mary Ann Greier Firefighter Mike Bryan tightens a Res-Q-Jack in place against a vehicle on its side as fellow Salem firefighters watch and trainer Adam Georskey of All-American Fire Equipment offers instruction.

SALEM — Salem firefighters trained Wednesday on stabilization techniques and the use of air bags and cribbing for emergency rescue, with more training planned today.

So residents driving by the corner of Pershing and Ellsworth need not worry about the wrecked cars in the city hall parking lot — those are just donated tools for firefighter practice.

“They’re just training to be prepared for all emergencies,” trainer Adam Georskey of All-American Fire Equipment said.

The new equipment for the new Engine 2 includes a new air pack set by MatJack ranging from a 1-ton lift to a 50-ton lift and new Turtle plastic cribbing blocks, which are used for stabilization. Cribbing, which can also be made of wood, is considered a basic tool in the fire service.

Georskey explained that the training can help in situations where someone is trapped under a vehicle, such as a motor vehicle accident, farming accident or even a work-related accident in a garage.

Using the air bags and cribbing in just the right spots, a vehicle can be lifted high enough to remove a victim who may be trapped. For the training, old Engine 2 was parked in the station and firefighters placed cribbing and the air bags underneath and started pumping the bags with air in an attempt to lift the fire truck.

The fire truck was estimated at 46,000 pounds which is equivalent to at least 23 tons.

The firefighters managed to lift the frame up 4 to 6 inches and lift the back tires up 1 to 2 inches.

Salem Fire Capt. Shawn Mesler said this type of training is crucial.

“You need to be familiar not only with the equipment, but the structure of trucks to know where you can lift and where you can’t,” he said.

The training exercise “showed a lot of obstacles under a truck that make it hard to get to the frame to make it strong enough to lift,” he said, such as the fuel tank and air tank.

He said it was a good learning experience.

“The time of an actual emergency isn’t the time to discover the problems,” he said.

Firefighters also ventured outside to the parking lot to train with Res-Q-Jacks, which would be necessary when trying to safely remove a victim from a car, especially one that’s tipped on its side.

“These jacks stabilize a vehicle so as we extricate, we can control the vehicle,” Mesler said.

Sinsley’s Towing donated the three cars used for the training, even leaving one flipped on its side.

Firefighters also trained with the cutters and spreaders, commonly known as jaws, which are used to cut the roof off of a vehicle or open a door to get access to a victim.