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Delivering Community News to Eagle, Star & W. Ada County JANUARY 2014
Volume 5 • Issue 1
In this issue:
Eagle Fire Department loses a brother Page 2
Eagle Country Christmas Page 11
www.theindnews.com
Eagle Graduate Receives Eagle Fire Lifesaving Award By Philip A. Janquart A severe storm swept through the Treasure Valley Sept. 5, 2013, causing mudslides, flooding and property damage. In Eagle, Jim Clarke had finished work early and was heading south on Eagle Road when violent winds pushed over an old-growth tree that landed on the cab of his truck, leaving him pinned, and injured. Meanwhile, Chas Le Breton was across the street, working at a landscaping company, when his sister, Tess, showed up and told him what had happened. Le Breton took action, attached forks to the company’s front loader and was able to lift the multi-ton tree off the truck in a matter of minutes. It’s that very type of act the Eagle Fire Department likes to acknowledge with its Lifesaving Award, given to members of the community who go above and beyond the call of duty to lend a helping hand during emergencies. Eagle Fire made a formal presentation Dec. 10 at Fire Station No. 1 in Eagle, honoring the Eagle High School graduate for his efforts. Le Breton, a freshman at Boise State University, was surrounded by family members, as well as fire crew and police that were on the scene that day. Jim Clarke was there, too. He said he wasn’t sure how bad things were or if he would even escape with his life as he sat smashed between the caved-in roof and the back of his truck. “I couldn’t move anything and my head was turned,” he said. “There was one point in time, where I couldn’t see anything, or hear anything, and it was so hard to breath, I kind of wondered.”
Without Le Breton’s fast action, things may have been worse. “Without guys like Chas Le Breton, and the others that have received this award, we might not be able to do some of the things we do,” said Eagle Fire Chief Mike Winkle. “We train for a lot of things, but lifting huge trees off vehicles, that’s a hard one. For Chas to operate a piece of machinery he wasn’t very familiar with, and do the things he did to help us save the individual next to him, and make a better outcome, is pretty special.” Le Breton has only worked for the landscaping company for about a year and is relatively inexperienced at driving the front loader. In total, he had about 200 hours driving the piece of heavy equipChas (center), his sister Tess (left) and the man ment, which is equivalent to about three they helped rescue, Jim Clarke (right). weeks driving a car for the first time. Eagle firefighter Rexford Wilkosz said it was a “It was a shocking scene. I had never seen or miracle he survived. “You wouldn’t have believed heard of anything like it,” he said. “All I rememhow big that tree was and how he was pinned in ber is that he (Clarke) was saying ‘help me, help the vehicle!” me, it’s hard to breath. With all the adrenaline The tree was so big, Clarke’s boss, who was going through my body, I just knew this is where right behind him in traffic, and another unidentified Good Samaritan, were unable to pull the tree I needed to be and the Lord put me there, in the right time and place, and it was a part I had to off with their four-wheel-drive trucks. play in helping the man.” “In fact, I was told the one guy tore his truck Le Breton, who is studying business finance up trying to get it off. I kind of wish I knew who he was because I think he deserves some recogni- and is a member of Boise State’s Honor College, said he was just relieved to learn Clarke would tion, too.” said Clarke, who suffered a broken recover. femur and two fractured bones in his neck that “I was not expecting this recognition,” he said. required surgery to repair. Although slow – he “It’s been very gratifying to know Jim’s okay has lots of physical therapy left in his future and I could be a pro-active member of the Clarke says he is recovering. community.”
Photo Credit Andrea Dearden
Star Community Theater Page 12
Eagle Fire Crews work to extricate Jim Clarke from his truck Sept. 5, 2013.
From left, Chas’ father Dean, Chas, mother Armida and sister Tess.
From left, Eagle Fire Chief Mike Winkle, Chas Le Breton, Jim Clarke and firefighter Rexford Wilkosz, who was onsite with many other Eagle firefighters and police officers.
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