Agencies destroy car seats to keep kids safe

Unsafe seats replaced

MOSES LAKE - Several agencies worked together Saturday to distribute safe car and booster seats in Moses Lake.

Grant County Fire District No. 5, Moses Lake Fire Department, Safe Kids Grant County and Kim Janke with State Farm Insurance worked together to host the event, said Barbie Maier, District No. 5 EMS operational chief. She said the agencies hope to hold the event annually.

Car seats and booster seats were offered to people at a reduced price in exchange for used seats, she said. Several seats remain in use after their expiration dates or after they've been involved in a traffic collision.

To ensure the seats are never used again, firefighters destroyed the seats using extraction tools, commonly referred to as the "jaws of life," Maier said.

She said it's important to destroy the old seats because sometimes people get them used and don't know the history of the seat. The agencies also performed free seat inspections.

There are parts of the seats that shouldn't be washed because it can cause the seat to become ineffective in a collision, Safe Kids Grant County representative Theresa Fuller said. The seats were checked for their functionality.

She said the seats were destroyed using the extraction tools to ensure no one removes them from the Dumpsters they were placed in. It's not uncommon for someone to take a car seat from a Dumpster and use it.

The agencies worked together to destroy 45 seats and replaced 30 seats.