Real Fire Training
Local News
by
Kyle Horan
last edited on
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Well if you were driving down Omaha Street Saturday and saw smoke just off the road, there's no reason to be alarmed. Firefighters got a rare opportunity Saturday to have some live fire training.
Flames billow from the ashes where a Rapid City man's house once stood Saturday as firefighters and neighbors just watch and take pictures. It looks like a scene of a great tragedy, but it's not. It's actually firefighter training.
Assistant Fire Chief Casey Warren said "This type of training doesn't come along very often. And we have to be trained to the highest level in case of emergency. And training like this gives us the most real hands on experience, the best hands on experience before going to a real structure fire."
Firefighters practiced live drills and breaching techniques on the 105 year old house. Using this rare opportunity to the best of their ability to keep them prepared for a realistic fire rescue situation. And when they were done, they burn down the house, as the owner requested.
The owner, Robert Anderson says, "With today's technology it's just better to put up a whole new house that heats a little better and is a little more friendly to the environment."
Having known several firefighters over the years, Anderson decided the best way to tear down his house was to burn it, and if it could help local firefighters get some valuable hands on training, firefighters were happy to oblige.
You might think fires like this that are so close to trees could be dangerous. But firefighters were sure they were being completely safe.
Captain of Training, Deb Venable said, "We have multiple units set up along each side of the structure as well as multiple hose lines and every firefighter assigned to those hose lines is assigned to a certain section of the brush and the grass and etc. we knew exactly what we wanted to save and we did a good job of it today."
The hoses shoot a mix of foam and fire retardant gel that coats both the buildings and trees nearby to ensure the fire doesn't spread. And training like this gives the firefighters the experience they need to combat the spread of any fire.
The owner says he has mixed feelings about burning down the house but is happy to help local firefighters in their training.