Three members of a vehicle-wrecking company were honored on Friday, Sept. 22 at Lorton Fire and Resuce Station 19 for their work and quick action that may have saved a man’s life in May.
Bobby Giannotto, J.J. Redman and Jon Redman of Redman’s Wrecking Service were called to the Lorton Landfill on May 1 when a large dump truck fell onto a smaller dump truck, pinning the driver inside the smaller truck, said Capt. Elliott Rubino.
“These men used the loader truck to lift up the big truck so the driver could breathe easier until the rescue trucks arrived,” Rubino said.
By using their wrecking trucks to elevate the larger truck until the fire and rescue teams could free the driver, Rubino said they most likely helped to save the driver.
“It’s not often we run across people who go above and beyond to save someone’s life,” he said.
Giannotto, J.J. Redman and Jon Redman insist it was all in a day’s work.
“They called us over because we were closest to the landfill and had the right equipment,” said J.J. Redman. “We were able to secure the bigger truck with two loads holding the dump truck’s bed up in the air.”
He admitted that it wasn’t the safest condition for either the driver or the rescue crews, but if the larger truck had remained on top of the smaller truck, the pressure of the large load would’ve crushed the cab of the smaller truck.
“Working with the crew from Redman’s, we were able to get the man out of the cab,” said Lt. Kenneth Wildman, one of the first rescue workers from the Lorton Station at the landfill. “It was definitely a life-threatening situation, his head was being crushed by the metal.”
THE DRIVER of the truck is recovering from his injuries, Wildman said, and is expected to heal completely.
“These guys did a great job and worked really well under these condition,” he said.
The crew from Redman’s said that although they are trained to move large vehicles after accidents, this is not a typical job by any means.
“I’ve done something like this before, but it was years ago,” said Giannotto.
“The problem with a situation like this is that there are so many people and departments that are all trying to coordinate together,” J.J. Redman said, who added that 75 fire and rescue workers helped to clear the accident.
Jon Redman, owner of the company, said he and his workers take their work seriously and consider being called to help the fire and rescue department on an accident as a way to give back to their community.
“We do what we can to help,” he said. “We’ve had to go out many times to pick up trucks so a driver can be moved. If we get called out to a life-saving situation, we’re there.”