The Perry Hi-Way VFD in suburban Erie, Pa., received a “car into a building” call on March 10, 2003. Chief Kip Hayford recognized the address as a popular restaurant only minutes from the firehouse.

Apparently a driver had popped the clutch on a car parked near a glass-and-aluminum roll-up door. The car lurched forward, crashing through the door and sending empty tables flying. Arriving on the scene, Hayford, a fulltime paramedic, was relieved to see that no one was injured.

Part of the door rested on the roof of the car. While Hayford’s crew stabilized it and checked for fuel leaks and structural damage to the building, a tow truck arrived to remove the car.

“Rather than just hook onto it and yank the car out, let’s try to get the door off of it,” instructed Hayford, trying to minimize further damage.

Two steel cables attached to heavy coil springs manage the weight of the door while opening and closing it. Both were still connected, but only one was taut. Hayford needed a handhold, so he cut an L-shaped section out of one of the door panels. The loose cable was attached to the section.

“The maintenance worker at the restaurant told me the springs worked independently,” said Hayford. “He was wrong.”

When Hayford’s crew cut the taut cable, the loose one shot up to the ceiling, snapped, and shot the L-shaped section at Hayford’s head. It hit with enough force to crush a rib on the dome of his CairnsHELMETS® 1010 Fire Helmet.

“Everybody assumed that I was injured,” said Hayford. “It felt like
the roof was coming down.”

Hayford examined his helmet on the spot and noticed, “It had a little chunk taken out of its rib.” Looking at the helmet’s ratchet system, Hayford realized just how hard he’d been hit. The force of the impact had sheared the Nomex material stitching that attaches the ratchet assembly to the helmet’s bump cap.

Firefighters and paramedics on the scene asked Hayford if he knew what hit him. He wasn’t sure. They showed him the L-shaped section that he’d cut minutes earlier.

“The helmet definitely saved my life,” reflected a grateful Hayford. “That piece of metal — I don’t know what it would have done to my head.”

One of the paramedics was convinced. “You wouldn’t be here today,” he said, “if you hadn’t had your helmet on.”