IVFD Jaws team and captains recently accepted a new saw with funds donated by Preston Smith of Imperial Auction Market and Brad Foote of Imperial Beef. Pictured, front from left, are Preston Smith, Brad Wheeler, Daryl Sharp and Brad Foote, back from left, Nick Schultz, Doug Mitchell, Aaron Greene, Mike Rowley, Wade Courter, Earl Loop and Rick Elliott. (Johnson Publications photo)
IVFD receives funds for new saw, materials
After a cattle trailer overturned near Enders Lake in January, Brad Foote of Imperial Beef and Preston Smith of the Imperial Auction Market decided the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) needed a new saw.
Imperial Beef cows were being transported in the trailer, Foote said, when it tipped over as the driver came to a curve in the road.
The cows had been purchased in Saint Marys, Kansas.
Foote said the driver had just gotten over the flu and was “disoriented at the wheel.”
“I don’t know who called who,” Foote said, “because it was an hour after that I found out.”
A number of volunteers showed up at the scene with portable panels to help collect the cattle.
“Just after (the accident) Brad (Wheeler) and I got to talking about efficiency and man, it would be nice if they had a bigger saw so they could buzz right through it,” Smith said.
“I asked (Foote) if he’d be willing to split the cost and he said ‘yep’,” Smith said.
“This is not a donation,” Foote said, “it’s an investment.”
During the January mishap, the IVFD used just one blade to help get the remaining cows out of the trailer, “but it tore it up pretty bad,” IVFD member Rick Elliott said.
“It’s something everybody needed,” Foote said. “Hopefully they don’t have to use it too often but if they do it’ll be an improvement.”