Marc Focareta learned in a very personal way how valuable a cordless Milwaukee Sawzall can be.
He watched firefighters use it to cut through twisted wreckage to free his wife after a horrific head-on collision near Lakeside on Labor Day.
At the time, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department had only a few of the cordless devices, along with the “jaws of life,” which is used to pry rather than cut wreckage away from trapped victims.
Most of the saws in use required generators and bulky cords, which often limited the reach to trapped victims.
Focareta, 44, was thankful that rescuers who responded to his wife's crash had one of the few Sawzalls.
“Without (it), my wife might not be here today,” said Focareta, a Santee resident who is operations manager for The Home Depot in Clairemont.
He knew more of the tools could save lives.
Working with Fire Capt. Todd Dubler and Home Depot officials, Focareta led a donation effort to ensure that all 12 San Diego truck companies and a rescue rig were equipped with the cordless model, which has a six-inch blade and costs about $600.
“With these Sawzalls, we are going to be able to get to more trapped victims quickly and save lives,” said Maurice Luque, Fire Department spokesman. “It may make all the difference in the world – we are very grateful to Marc and The Home Depot people.”
Announcement of the Sawzall donation will be made today at Home Depot's Genesee Avenue store. A demonstration of the device will follow.
The saw was used with surgeon-like precision to cut the pedals and steering wheel away to rescue 34-year-old Anita Focareta on Sept. 5.
Focareta's 14-year-old stepdaughter, spared serious injury, managed to crawl over her trapped mother and climb out the driver's side window. The girl told a passer-by to call her dad.
The stranger contacted Focareta at Home Depot and told him his wife was trapped in a crash on state Route 67 and that emergency crews had not yet arrived to help.
Focareta rushed to the scene and watched as rescue crews freed her after an hourlong operation. She spent a month in a hospital recuperating from two broken ankles, a broken arm and other injuries. She is now fully recovered.
Fire spokesman Luque said firefighters are being called to more vehicle rescues every year.
This year, they have been dispatched to 483 rescues, compared with 437 for the same period in 2005, and 334 in 2004.
Joe Hughes: (619) 542-4591; joe.hughes@uniontrib.com
