DANVERS - Danvers Days wrapped up Sunday, but not before Danvers fire and rescue personnel staged a grim accident scene to remind residents of the dangers of drunken driving. "In nearby Tazewell County, 18 teenagers lost their lives to drunk-driving accidents last year. It's never necessary. It can always be avoided," said Danvers emergency worker Mike Claver.

Hundreds of people watched behind police tape as fire and rescue went through a demonstration of what they do when a fatal accident occurs. Two vehicles were set up in front of the Danvers Fire Department to simulate a grisly accident caused by a drunken driver.

"This is the first time in 10 years we've done this demonstration, and we thought it was time to do it again," said Danvers Fire Department Lt. Mike Storm.

Danvers emergency worker Mike Claver spoke to the audience as the demonstration began.

"What you're going to see will be distressing," said Claver, "and it's distressing for emergency workers to experience as they come out here and try to undo what's already been done."

The accident was staged with a green Plymouth Breeze four-door and a 1985 Chevy van. In the staged accident, the Plymouth ran a stop sign and struck the passenger side of the van. Both vehicles were severely damaged to simulate a high speed collision and subsequent crash into stop signs and light poles.

"We used a backhoe and a lot of sledgehammers," explained Storm.

In the Plymouth, Emily Gray of Mackinaw portrayed an 18-year-old drunken driver. Her face was painted pink and purple to simulate bruises caused by the airbag, and fake blood dripped down her arm to simulate cuts from flying glass. Her passenger, Ben Whittaker of Danvers, was not so lucky.

He had made a basic mistake in the mock crash because he'd failed to fasten his seatbelt.

"I was unrestrained," said Whittaker, 22, "and I hit my forehead on the windshield."

Whittaker, who portrayed an 18-year-old track star in the demonstration, had the right side of his head covered in fake blood, and bruises were painted on his head and arms. He was also paralyzed from the waist down.

In the Chevy van, driver Cathy Melick of Danvers had cuts and bruises painted on her head and arms, and Cody Cheeseman, an 8-year-old, portrayed Melick's son, who was sitting in the back seat and took the worst impact from the other vehicle. In the simulation, Cheeseman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both Gray and Melick stumbled from the wreck with minor injuries. The ground was strewn with glass, shredded steel, fiberglass and Styrofoam from the pulverized front end of the Plymouth. Melick grabbed Gray in anger, while Whittaker and Cheeseman remained trapped in their the vehicles as rescue teams arrived.

"I just had to be mad and hysterical, as any mother would," said Melick, who in real life is a mother of three.

Whittaker's neck was stabilized while Melick was taken to the ambulance for treatment.Police administered a field sobriety test to Gray, who conveyed both intoxication and shock from the accident.

After making a brief assessment, the emergency personnel turned away from Cheeseman and focused on Whittaker. A red tarp was draped over the van and the coroner was called.

Two-tenths of a second

"An accident like this one happens in two-tenths of a second," said Claver, "and on a two-lane road cars traveling at highway speeds are 6 to 8 feet from instant death. I say this because I don't want you to be talking on your cell phone or checking your makeup, or the next person who'll be checking your makeup will be a mortician."

Another factor Claver tried to get across was the effect on emergency personnel of tending the victims of terrible accident.

"It's always tough because people don't understand what this does to emergency workers," continued Claver. "We're incidental victims in all this. We're all volunteers, we have families to go home to at night. It gives you nightmares."

As the demonstration ended, Claver made a plea to his audience, imploring them to call anyone, even someone from the fire department, for a ride home if they happen to be intoxicated.

'Can't unring a bell'

"Four lives were brought together here," said Claver. "They met for just an instant. There's an old proverb that says 'You can't unring a bell.'"

Melick, who portrayed the mother who lost a child, said, "When we were getting ready, you have to stop and think this could be really happening to a child, and it got a little emotional."

Because Danvers is a small community, the emotional impact of an accident can be particularly hard for the emergency personnel.

"When something like this happens, it's likely they know the people involved," said Melick, whose husband works for the Danvers Fire Department.