Fire department use practice burn to test skills

BONNERS FERRY — Firefighters from both Paradise Valley Fire District and the Bonners Ferry Fire Department spent a busy day Saturday taking advantage of a rare live-fire training opportunity that was months in the making.

Alan Parish, who owns property on Kent’s Gulch Road just outside Bonners Ferry city limits, had an old modular home and a couple of outbuildings he wanted to get rid of, and a neighbor, Tom Bennett, who happens to be a captain with PVFD.

“I was looking for a way to get rid of this old rental,” Parish said, “and the fire department was looking for a chance to train. It was a win-win for everyone!”

After coordinating with Bennett, PVFD Chief Jock Johnson began the arduous process of meeting federal and state laws for conducting a controlled burn of this nature, getting approval from both the Environmental Protection agency and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Firefighters had to go through the entire home to remove potential hazards, and arrangements had to be made with an inspector from Coeur d’Alene to visit the site to ensure there were no hazardous materials, such as asbestos, that could potentially harm the firefighters or the environment.

“It took about three months to get all the permits we needed and get the house ready,” Johnson said.

With that much time invested, Johnson wanted to maximize the training potential. Because the location was so close to the city and because they have a mutual aid agreement in place, he invited the BVFD to take part, not only to let young firefighters get some hands-on training, but so that the two departments could coordinate their efforts and put to practice the coordinated command system that’s brought into effect when multiple jurisdictions work together.

While Johnson and Warkinton traded off roles as incident commander and operations officer, Bonners Ferry firefighter Roy Marquis served as outside safety officer and Paradise Valley deputy chief Doug Ladely served as interior safety officer while about 20 members of both departments, including three young firefighters still earning their qualifications, played out the roles they’d be called on in the event of an emergency.

Before the house was put to the torch, firefighters practiced emergency egress procedures, entry and exit procedures, conducted rigorous rescue scenarios and even battled multiple controlled burns in a back bedroom, setting straw and wood on fire, letting it flare up against a wall, and then putting down the flames before the flames could spread. Between burns, firefighters used hoses, fans and specially hinged windows to ventilate the smoke before the next team took their turn behind the hose.

But the most intense part of the exercise came when the old home was finally set alight for good, and even the old hands were impressed by how fast it became engulfed. Bonners Ferry fireman Steve Winey, who kept track of logistics throughout the exercise, such as who had entered and who came out of the structure, said it took less than five minutes from the time the fire was set until the house was an inferno.

“It’s rate to get this kind of training opportunity,” Johnson said, “and we’re very pleased at how well it went. Everybody went home and nobody got hurt. It was fantastic!”