Firefighters train in blazing Sisters house

It may have been only a fire training exercise, but for both new and experienced firefighters, it soon took on the feeling of a real house fire.

Last Saturday, the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department conducted another “burn-to-learn” training exercise at a house at 415 E. Washington St. in Sisters. After an orientation session at the fire hall, trainees moved on to the site of the fire.

For volunteer fireman Joel Sheets, it was a new experience. Sheets was at the front of a four-person crew that walked into the burning building filled with smoke.

“I used the hose to knock down the fire as we moved in,” Sheets said. “Of course it was an adrenaline rush. It always is when you are doing something that you have never done before.”

Following his first entrance into the building, Sheets and the others had their blood pressure and heart rate checked by EMTs at a rehab station set up on the perimeter of the training area.

Sheets has been a volunteer fireman for only eight months.

“It was something I wanted to do to give back to the community,” he said.

Sheets has been managing Figaro’s Pizza in Sisters and now is moving on to manage the Metolius River Lodges resort at Camp Sherman.

For volunteer Derrick Ralls, this was not his first experience.

“I was in a similar exercise a few blocks over from this one,” he said.

Ralls is a first year student in fire science and emergency medical training at Central Oregon Community College. Ralls also was at the front of a four-person team that directed a fire hose as they entered the burning building.

“It was exciting,” he said. “I know I want to follow this work as a career.”

Some 35 firefighters and EMTs participated in the training, according to Assistant Fire Chief Ken Enoch, who served as incident commander for the exercise.

“That number included seven from the Black Butte Fire District,” he added.

Four-person crews rotated from station to station throughout the exercise, first getting prepared to enter the building, walking into the burning house, then to rehab, and then to controlling the spread of the fire from the outside.

The blaze drew a crowd.

More than 50 onlookers watched the training and photographed the fire. One was retired Sisters-Camp Sherman Chief Don Mouser from Redmond.

“My granddaughter wanted to watch the fire, so we drove over,” he said.

Another man was a traveler who saw the tall gray smoke column while driving into Sisters from Bend.

“I have the greatest admiration for these firefighters,” he said.