Live burn helps to save lives
Firefighters participate in a Confidence Burn, where they stayed inside the burning building to learn how the fire worked. Photo by MANDI BATEMAN
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN By being able to train under the realistic conditions provided during a live fire, the firefighters have a greater chance to save lives and property.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN The instructor asked for the main door to be closed once the fire was going for the Confidence Burn.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN After all the training revolutions were complete, the house was safely burned down.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN At the end of the day the site was cleaned up and the house was burned down under the watchful eyes of many firefighters, who kept the surrounding trees and bushes safe by keeping them doused with water.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Firefighters kept the blaze under control to safely burn down the house after the training was over.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Removing windows during the live burn training.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Multiple fires were lit to simulate different types of fires, like this one in the bedroom of the house, that was off of the living room.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN North Bench Firefighter Granite Allinger with his brother, Hall mountain Firefighter Ben Allinger during the live fire training.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN North Bench Firefighter Cheryl Jackson emerges after a successful fire training session, called an evolution.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Scenes from the burning house on May 19, during the live burn training consisting of multiple agencies.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Firefighters waiting their turn to take place in one of the many training exercises.
BONNERS FERRY — It’s not often that people gather together to willingly step inside a burning building.
But under the guidance of Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office Deputy/Investigator Jason Blubaum and South Boundary Fire Chief Tony Rohrwasser, that’s exactly what happened on May 19 as firefighters from around the county had the opportunity to train in a live burn situation, thanks to an old house just off of McArthur Lake Road being donated for the cause.
“It’s a very rare opportunity that these guys get to practice in a real building,” said Blubaum. “They are becoming fewer and farther in between and people aren’t willing to donate them to the fire departments anymore.”
Rohrwasser stresses that training in live fire conditions is the best and most realistic way to simulate a structure fire. However, firefighters across the country have died in these type of trainings. In response, a standard has been set into place called NFPS 1403, which is the National Fire Protection Association’s Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, that has a specific sections, including Live Fire Training in Acquired Structures.
They must also have samples of building materials that may possibly have asbestos taken by a certified inspector and tested in a lab.
“If this all passes, all rooms involved in training must have windows removed and boards installed. Locations to be burned must be covered in drywall so as not to allow the fire to burn through and start the house on fire,” explained Rohrwasser. “EPA paperwork must be completed, DEQ must be notified and of course a burn permit from IDL.”
The building had 55 sheets of drywall installed, which allows multiple burns to be set and extinguished during each of the 16 unique training exercises known as evolutions, without the whole structure catching fire.
“What we are trying to do is to burn over and over and over again. Every time we do a scenario, it is a different scenario, so the crew that was just in there, they don’t know what they are going to get. The idea is to keep it as intact as they possibly can,” said Blubaum.
Personnel from Bonners Ferry Fire, Boundary Ambulance, Hall Mountain Fire, North Bench Fire, Paradise Valley Fire, South Boundary Fire, and one firefighter from Worley Fire working on his Live Fire Certification attended.
They began the day with an exercise known as a confidence burn in which the firefighters went into a room where the fire was then lit and the door was closed with them inside.
“We did a confidence burn for the people that have never seen a real fire inside of a structure before, and we walked through the science and the chemistry behind a fire,” said Blubaum. “We talked about thermal layering, where the smoke level is, survivability for civilians that don’t have PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and the air that we bring with us.”
“We are going to show them from what is called the incipient stage, through growth, up to we will get flames rolling across the ceiling and maybe out the door, maybe back into these rooms and around the corner,” explained Blubaum. “We will have them sitting here so they can actually watch it in a safe, controlled manner. The idea is to build their confidence so when they go in on the real deal, they don’t get freaked out by what they are seeing.”
Among the firefighters in the confidence burn was Northwest Academy student Jonathan Fraga, a recruit with South Boundary Fire.
“It was intense. It was really hot, obviously, but I was surprised that my survival instincts and anxiety weren’t super high. It was pretty easy. The only thing I was really concerned about was the respirator; making sure that kept going,” explained Fraga. “Other than that, it felt pretty safe. It was really crazy, watching the smoke level descend. I’ve never been in anything like that before.”
After the confidence burn they set up a series of fires using pallets and straw to simulate bedroom fires, living room fires, and kitchen fires, utilizing the multiple rooms of the house.
“This last evolution we did was a kitchen fire, so we stacked everything up high, like countertop height, so I had the fire up high instead of down low,” explained Blubaum. “On the other ones, we kind of build our cribs to look like a couch. In the bedroom, it is supposed to simulate a bed that is on fire.”
Some of the importance in this kind of training, is to practice offensive tactics. This enables the firefighters to rescue victims and work on property conservation, as opposed to the defensive tactics which would be fighting fire from outside the structure.
“For many it was their first taste of being inside a structure with live fire above and around them,” said Rohrwasser. “For many others it was a welcome refresher and some were moved up into command positions for the first time.”
The firefighters also got a chance to practice a variety of positions, including Incident Commander, Attack team, back up team, Search Team, and Rapid Intervention Team (RIT). There was also a fire ignition team, Medical team and a Safety Officer.
“In total there were 25 students and instructors that made multiple entries into the burning building and six supporting positions,” said Rohrwasser.
At the end of the long, hot day of training, the site was cleaned up and the house was burned down under the watchful eyes of many firefighters, who kept the surrounding trees and bushes safe by keeping them doused with water.
What began as a simple donation of a house that needed to be removed, may end with the critical training that is needed to eventually save lives.