Trial by fire

Trial by fire - Controlled torching of two Jackson homes is crucial training for local firefighters

Friday, May 02, 2008

By Scott Thomas Anderson

On April 27 and 28, local volunteer firefighters burned down two houses and a barn off Jackson Gate Road for the purposes of training with live fire. The firefighters moved into the burning buildings and battled the flames in different scenarios. Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch

"It'll come down any minute," someone shouted Saturday afternoon as a flowing tornado of fire licked its way up the gables and beams of the home in North Jackson.

Firefighters created lines along the sparkling blaze, positioning themselves between the heat and surrounding homes, and making sure the pluming red drafts couldn't twist down and scorch the cattle lands to the back. While unknowing people who glimpsed the fire helmets moving into the smokey, effervescent light assumed they were witnessing a tragedy, the battle was actually a controlled situation - a sanctioned moment of arson to keep Amador's firefighters at the top of their game.

In all, two entire houses and a barn were destroyed off Jackson Gate Road as part of the exercise over the weekend. The burning was supervised by the Jackson Fire Department, though the training extended to members of the Sutter Creek Fire Department, Ione Fire Department, Lockwood Fire Protection District and CAL FIRE's Battalion 10.

According to Jackson Fire Chief Mark Morton, the property owner approached him a year ago with an offer to sacrifice the buildings. "These were both rental homes that were in bad shape," said Morton. "The owner wanted to do other things with the property and offered to let burn the structures for training. I thought it was a great idea; but we were too close to fire season at the time."

Training has been a key focus during Morton's tenure as chief. His department, like all departments in Amador, is made up entirely of volunteers. While these men and women hold down full-time jobs to pay their bills, they're required to have the same training and certifications mandated by the state for full-time paid firefighters. Morton said the chance to use a live fire in real homes was as close as they could get to simulating a major fire emergency - while also offering the luxury to run through certain concepts and drills repeatedly by keeping the blazes going. "You don't even get practical experience like this in a real fire situation," Morton explained. "When a fire is actually happening, you're trying to get in and put it out so it does the least amount of damage to the building. With an exercise like this, we don't care what happens to the building because we're going to take it down to the ground eventually anyway."

On Saturday, Morton and several other instructors supervised fire evolutions in every room of the house. Students and participants watched the fire with an emphasis on understanding its behavior. The instructors backed out and relit each room several times. The objective was for the firefighters to learn how to kill the most fire with the least amount of water. They also logged crucial practice with their self-contained breathing apparatuses, working on how to conserve air while getting to the base of a fire and putting it out. "So far it's been wonderful," Morton said of the training. "The participants have done a great job and I'm really proud of everyone. All our instructors have done a great job too."

Jackson Fire Captain Franck Tremaine also reported that a push from his department to attract new recruits has met with some success. For some time, changes in the economy have put a serious burden on the local volunteer system. In October, the Jackson department began a concerted effort to reach out to the community in hopes of drawing in new blood.

"It's been going good so far," Tremaine said. "We have picked up some more people, so we're getting closer."

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Scott Thomas Anderson