News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
CUTTING VENTS...Squads of
firefighters practiced placing roof ladders, sounding the roof for safety and then cutting holes with saws and axes to ventilate the middle school roof. Ventilation is a dangerous and difficult task and firefighters benefit from realistic trainng on a full-sized roof. photo by Tim O'Neal
The old Sisters Middle School was reduced to a pile of smoking rubble on Monday morning after a weekend training burn that gave 185 firefighters a unique live-fire experience.
Spectators lined the security fence on both Saturday and Sunday, February 7-8, as the old classroom structure was engulfed -- half of the structure each day. A towering column of roiling black smoke could be seen miles from town.
But the real action was less spectacular.
According to spokesman George Fox of the Sunriver Fire Department, teams of firefighters each got four opportunities to attack deliberately set fires. Teams also practiced ventilation techniques on the roof and held search and rescue practice in the darkness of the gym basement.
"Things went great, we felt," said Sisters Deputy Chief Ken Enoch. "We burned exactly what we wanted to burn each day."
The elaborate "burn-to-learn" exercise drew 185 firefighters from departments all across Central Oregon.
Observing the ventilation drills, Fox noted that practice on a real commercial roof is much more effective than training on 12-foot-by-12-foot roof mock-ups.
Firefighters cut roof vents to release heat and smoke and sometimes to manipulate the direction in which fire burns.
Sounding a roof for safety and determining where to cut are critical aspects of ventilation -- skills best taught in a realistic environment, Fox said.
Manipulating saws and axes while perched on a roof ladder is a risky business and requires practice.
The fire commanders opted not to burn the gym due to safety concerns and the fire crews were able to keep the fire off that structure while the classroom wing a few feet away was consumed.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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