The Malakwa, Sicamous and Swansea Point fire departments gathered on Sunday March 26 to practice a variety of fire fighting techniques on a derelict building on Lybarger road in Malakwa.
The building’s owner wanted it demolished and offered it to the fire department for use in training.
Firefighters practiced searching the building when its interior was obscured by smoke machines. They used a variety of methods to clear the smoke and make the search easier. A thermal imaging camera was also used to more easily navigate the smoke-filled interior.
Crews lit small fires inside the building and practiced extinguishing them with hoses.
Using chainsaws, firefighters practiced breaching windows, a technique which can create a safer route to evacuate an injured firefighter or other people from a burning building.
Once the day’s training had concluded, the fire crews set a controlled blaze which quickly spread throughout the building. Firefighters kept the flames from spreading to nearby buildings and trees until the fire had burned itself out.
“It’s an awesome learning experience because for a couple people who were there, a couple from Swansea, a couple from Sicamous and one from my area, had never even put on their breathing packs that’s how new they are,” said Malakwa Fire Chief Joanne Held.
Held said the training exercise shows the new recruits can handle the pressure without panicking in a real fire.
“They did awesome, absolutely awesome,” she said.
Held added the Sicamous, Malakwa and Swansea point departments are always looking for similar properties to use in training exercises.