Building provides firefighters unique opportunities

  • Published
  • By Samantha S. DeVries
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Over the years, it served as a flight training detachment, outdoor supply warehouse, thrift shop and a Scouting meeting place. In its final days, the abandoned building served one last purpose -- a training ground for base firefighters and police investigators.

On April 12, base engineers set one final fire in Bldg. 1612 -- already scheduled for demolition -- in a controlled burn to test the abilities of base and local firefighters to combat a blaze they may one day face in an uncontrolled situation.

Before the last burn, firefighters set smaller fire inside the structure to test various skills not easily tested in the base's fire training simulator, according to John Walker, base fire department's assistant fire prevention chief.

"Most of the exercises consisted of offensive fire attack scenarios," said Mr. Walker. "The purpose of the exercises was to practice the art of firefighting. This encompasses responding to the scene, extinguishing fire, rescuing victims, salvage, overhaul and command and control of the chaos."

The department conducted its first burn at the building March 12 to collect samples to ensure the base complied with environmental standards before burning it on a larger scale.

The department got approval to continue training with the building March 26, said Greg Chesser, assistant fire chief for training. The next fire was April 2 with more exercises conducted each day up until the final burn used to take down the entire structure.

Training wasn't limited to the base fire department. Members from the Mountain Home volunteer firefighters came out April 10 to train with firefighters here.

"We utilized this unique opportunity to afford both agencies a chance to practice firefighting techniques jointly under controlled conditions," said Mr. Walker.

The building even served as a training ground for special agents from the base Air Force Office of Special Investigations who walked through the site April 10.

"It was used to familiarize their agents with how fires are investigated and to aid them in making sense of what occurred," said Mr. Walker. "This was a good opportunity to practice skills we don't often have to use. Everyone can see the result of a fire, but the art of the investigation is to make sense of the mess and determine what the cause of the fire was. The results of the investigation may be used to formulate ways in the Fire Prevention Section to educate the public to prevent future fires."

Safety was very important during the exercises, said Mr. Chesser.

"Conducting live fire training in a structure versus conducting fires in our training building is very different in that we have more control in our training building," he added. Fire behaviors slightly differ in each facility and conducting live fire training at Bldg. 1612 gave us a more realistic avenue for the fire officers to try and predict what could happen inside of the structure and formulate a plan of attack for it."

National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, dictates safety precautions the station followed with each fire exercise.

"Standards are very strict with conducting live fire training in facilities other than our training facility," added Mr. Chesser. "We had to complete a four-page checklist each day of the fires to ensure safety of firefighters and surrounding buildings. The checklist covers every aspect of a fire ground operation."

The checklist includes safety briefs, road blocks and building checks for people or other hazards such as holes, power and water sources.

The fire department hopes to use another base building slated for demolition to continues this level of training, said Cliff Lewis, base fire chief. If the department does get another building, it plans to hold several burns in September.