 Members of the Falcon Fire Protection District and Black Forest Fire & Rescue met Sat., May 15 on Elbert Road to train new volunteers. The two groups were joined by the Falcon Rehabilitation unit, a group of retired fire fighters who provide fire fighter support services, and members of the Falcon Explorers and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. The fire chief for Schriever Air Force base was also on hand to provide additional fire fighting expertise. Alex Donnell of the Falcon Fire Protection District worked with all of the event participants.
Kathy Russell of Black Forest Fire & Rescue commented that training in a real building is invaluable. Although the fire districts have access to training in fireproof cement buildings, eventually the trainees get to know the building layout too well. Training in an unfamiliar structure makes the experience more realistic.
After lunch, demolition began. A critical issue for this training exercise was making sure the fire did not get out of control and spread to other houses in the area. Seasoned fire district veterans established a perimeter around the building, drenched it with flame retardant and stood ready to take action, if necessary. Instructors then set fires inside the modular house and teams of trainees practiced dragging the hose inside, finding the fire and putting it out.
Falcon Fire Protection District
The Falcon Fire Protection District is funded by property taxes, permit fees and grants. They have a staff of eight full-time employees, two part-time employees and 27 volunteer fire fighters. Although the Falcon Fire Protection District welcomes the opportunity to participate in training exercises like the one described in this article, they don't have the time, the funding or the manpower to take on a project like this very often. Volunteer fire fighters are always welcome!
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The owners of the property on Elbert Road donated a modular house for the training exercise(above). By the end of the day, this neighborhood eyesore was completely destroyed - to the delight of the owners and neighbors
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Training began in the morning as they searched for victims in dark, smoke-filled rooms (above). Smoke inhalation is the most common causes of death associated with house fires.
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For the grand finale, the instructors set one last fire that consumed the entire structure. Just four minutes elapses from the time the last fire fighter exited the building until the entire building was fulling engulfed in flames. A cloud of black smoke billowed into the sky as the petroleum-based asphalt shingles ignited.
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The property owners and neighbors cheered as the worst building in the neighborhood collapsed in a pile of rubble less than 30 minutes later, without endangering any other buildings.
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