A controlled fire offered hands-on\u00a0experience for trainees of Polk County\u00a0Fire District No. 1 in the evening\u00a0of Sunday, Nov. 9, drawing attention\u00a0from locals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the closest thing that we\u00a0have to the real deal,\u201d said Lieutenant\u00a0James Nisbet. \u201cThe biggest thing was\u00a0that we got some of our newer members\u00a0on the department some good\u00a0experience from it.\u201d
\n\u201cWe try to notify the neighbors\u00a0and be friendly and courteous,\u201d said\u00a0Neal Olson. \u201cWe usually send out a\u00a0letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hand-delivered letter was delayed\u00a0until one day prior to the burn\u00a0this time. \u201cI didn’t put this one in the\u00a0newspaper because it came on so\u00a0quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a precaution, neighboring\u00a0buildings and plants were thoroughly\u00a0soaked prior to the first fire being lit\u00a0just before 4 p.m. Water was continually\u00a0applied, though everything was\u00a0already wet thanks to a good rain,\u00a0which, according to Nisbet, helped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren’t in a huge, major\u00a0threat,\u201d Nisbet said of the local buildings,\u00a0adding of this particular fire,\u00a0\u201cReally that one wasn’t too concerning.\u201d\u00a0The structures were distant enough\u00a0to be protected from the blaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is real fire, it\u2019s just a little more controlled and regulated.\u201d
\nA property is also thoroughly evaluated for safety before a burn. Once a structure has been deemed safe, Polk County Fire District No. 1 assumes control of the property, and crews use it for a variety of exercises.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is super valuable to people who don\u2019t have a lot of experience,\u201d said Nisbet. This particular property was employed all summer for various training exercises; it couldn\u2019t be lit up because of a burn ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can use that structure for quite a while ahead of time; there\u2019s lots of things that we train on outside of the actual live fire,\u201d said Olson. \u201cWe were probably in that building, doing drills, for probably close to 30 hours over the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
With between 10 and 20 people in each crew, he added, \u201cThousands of training hours were received by us having that structure, which was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Practice scenarios include ventilation, forcible entry, and search and rescue among other drills, according to Olson. For ventilation, crews must climb ladders to cut holes in the roof with chainsaws.<\/p>\n
Forcible entry is needed when a door must be broken down in order to enter the building or the room. By filling the house with smoke or simulating the collapse of a roof, crews also gain experience with realistic situations.<\/p>\n
Everyone on site had a specific job, and a crew to which they were assigned. This is the group they practice with, shifting duties so everyone gets a chance to experience it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real detailed plan as to how we\u2019re going to rotate the crews,\u201d said Olson. \u201cWe do all of that training based on national fire protection association guidelines.\u201d He added that he referenced at least 17 pages of material on how to handle every aspect of the controlled burn.<\/p>\n
Five fires were planned for the building, in which crews would be able to see how the fire behaved, and gain valuable experience working in realistic conditions. After the fourth lighting, the fire got into the attic. Based on the condition of the attic, this wasn\u2019t a surprise, according to Nisbet.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we got to that point, we just went immediately into free burn,\u201d Olson said. Everyone was ordered out of the building, and firefighters monitored it as they let it burn to the ground.
\nNisbet facilitated the lightings, including observing the interior fire conditions while crews rotated through, to make sure the fire stayed contained.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the condition of the structure and just kind of time frame, that was more than we were anticipating,\u201d Nisbet said. \u201cWe were very happy that we were able to get as many out of it as we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to training individual firefighters and improving their experience, Olson said that the exercises helped to build team cohesion. According to him, the burn also served as a kind of neighborhood cleanup, as the building was not very appealing.\u00a0\u201cWe come away with a lot of training,\u201d Olson said. \u201cEverybody has a place and it\u2019s really detailed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Extra vehicles \u2013 ambulances and fire trucks \u2013 were brought to the scene of the controlled burn. Nearly the entire force on duty was present last night, according to Olson, so if a real call came in, they had to be prepared to mount a response from the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have to provide our service to the remainder of the community,\u201d Olson said. This time, he added, they were lucky; \u201cWe didn\u2019t have any interruptions.\u201d Other practice burns have been complicated with actual emergencies. \u201cIt can be really exciting at times,\u201d he said; with different calls coming in at the same time, there can be a lot going on, which detracts from training.<\/p>\n
\u201cA majority of our force are volunteers,\u201d Olson said. On a daily basis, Polk County Fire District No. 1 maintains three full-time firefighters on duty; there are nine career individuals to respond to any incident. The remaining 65 firefighters are volunteers, such as those who received training Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were able to do it three times a year, that would be great,\u201d said Olson. \u201cWe need to have them twice a year,\u201d but he acknowledged, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t always work like that.\u201d On average, they are usually able to practice controlled burns once or twice a year.<\/p>\n
Spectators gathered to watch the flames for several hours. Rebekah Degner, Nisbet\u2019s girlfriend, watched the fire from a camp chair for over an hour. Other people came and went well into the night, when the fires began to die down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t see that every day,\u201d said Elder Lima of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who, after seeing the smoke, stopped by with Elder Goff to make sure everything was alright and if they could help.<\/p>\n
Many watchers that night commented that they initially thought that this was an actual fire. After the building had been burned, it was returned to the control of the owner. Olson said that an apartment building with 22 units will be constructed on the property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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