So what do we do with the “leftover” adz end of the Halligan bar after we make the “Vulcan Tool” you ask? Well, it is simple – we take it to the resident expert welder at Rescue 2, none other than Sam Melisi, and have his work some of his magic. Sammy is not only one of the most talented people that I had been fortunate enough to work with in my career but he is also one of the most creative! When posed with the dilemma of having all these extra parts of the Halligan bars after we made all of the Vulcan Tools, we took the problem to Sammy for some fast thinking. Lo and behold, Sammy came up with a way to “fatten” the adz end of a Halligan bar up and give it considerably more leverage when used to exert downward pressure while forcing an inward opening door. Not only will it do that, but it also gives more “bite” on the bar when forcing an outward opening door also.

So how did Sammy accomplish this? Not a big problem for him at all. He merely took a portable band saw and cut the adz end off the parts left. Then, he put the adz in the vise at “JAF” (Jackass Fabrications) and cut the adz two more times lengthwise, thus yielding three separate pieces, each about ¾” wide. Then, he worked his magic with the arc welder and added a ¾” piece on to the adz end of one of our existing Halligan bars.

He then put his talents to work with his 4” grinder and came up with what you see here. A modified and much improved version of our original Halligan bar; as you can see from the attached pictures, it is quite apparent that Sammy is excellent with his grinder also! There is barely any evidence at all that the tool was modified with the additional piece. The man is a genius! And now we have another “unique” tool to add to our repertoire on Tower 33. I am sure it is going to get much good use within the bounds of the Tower 33’s response district!