News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Fire Chief Taylor Robertson confers with City Manager Eileen Stein on burn-to-learn plans. photo by Jim Cornelius
The old Sisters Middle School will go up in smoke this weekend as dozens of firefighters from all over Central Oregon use the facility for realistic live-fire training.
A team of fire department commanders and training officers is finalizing plans for the burn, which will take place in stages over two days, Saturday and Sunday, February 7-8.
The streets around the site, including Locust Street/Camp Polk Road and East Cascade Avenue will be closed during the exercise (see map at right).
Residents of northern subdivisions such as Sage Meadow and Squaw Creek Canyon Estates will be detoured off Camp Polk Road, right on Barclay Drive and left on Larch Street to get to Sisters and eastbound Highway 20.
Sisters Fire Chief Taylor Robertson acknowledged public concerns about hazardous materials. Those concerns, obviously, apply to firefighters, too.
"The building has an asbestos clearance and all hazardous materials have been removed," he said. What you're looking at is wood and shingles -- composite shingles."
The streets marked in yellow will be closed February 7-8. Red arrows indicate detours. map created by Elise Gourguechon
All "pressure vessels" such as water heaters and the building's boiler have been taken out; the sewer capped and utilities will be turned off before the burn.
Where there's fire, of course, there will be smoke. Exercise commanders hope it won't be much.
"That's the one factor that we cannot control," Chief Robertson said.
However, he said, a hot fire and cold air should send smoke straight up in the air.
"This is the best time of year to do it," Robertson said.
The building will be burned in stages, with a series of small fires set, then put out by rotations of firefighting crews. State and federal safety regulations require that no flammable materials be used to start the fires; only paper and wood can be used as starters.
Some areas will not be burned. The gym was deemed unsafe for burning and will not be touched at all by fire.
One portion of the classroom wing will not be used for exercises, though it will eventually be burned down when the building is consumed.
"We did some inspections of the roof structure and found some things we didn't expect," Robertson told The Nugget.
Specifically, inspectors found that the older portion of the classroom wing had areas where fire could go through the drop ceiling and access the whole attic in a flash. If fire got in there, the exercise would be a short one.
"We're not going to do any live-fire in the old portion of the school," Robertson said.
While firefighters will only conduct fire operations in a portion of the building, other areas will be used for firefighter rescue drills.
According to Information Officer George Fox, a wide variety of equipment will be used for practice and evaluation.
Firefighters will use thermal imager devices -- small, hand held, camera-like systems that sense heat and present an image on a screen.
Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District recently raised funds for such an imager, which is invaluable as a rescue tool in dark, smoky areas, but is also useful for finding fire hiding in walls.
Firefighters will also practice with Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and a portable SCBA filling system.
Firefighters will practice ventilation techniques and both offensive and defensive firefighting tactics.
They will also use a new product called "Barricade," a highly effective foam product that can protect buildings even from direct fire exposure.
The burn will save the Sisters School District about $10,000 in clearing costs for the property, which will become the site of a new library and City Hall.
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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