Live Fire Training

Saturday, November 10, 2001

Learning by Doing

Firefighters from several surrounding departments benefited from a day of live fire training held just south of St. Francisville in a house donated by Mr. and Mrs. Bill Buzbee.   The live fire training was the culmination of hard work by members of the department, during which they had to remove hazards from both inside and outside the building.  Trees, a propane tank and the brick chimney were all cleared from the outside of the house.  Inmates courtesy of West Feliciana Parish Sheriff J. Austin Daniel removed large quantities of debris and clothing from the house.  Firefighters then completed the cleaning of the inside of the house and made repairs to the floor of the house and braced up several areas for added safety.  Windows were covered  and doors were built to control ventilation during the various burns.  After the safety modifications to the house were completed the training started.

Approximately 22 firefighters attended the class room portion of the training on Thursday, November 8, 2001.  During the class room portion firefighters reviewed Incident Management, Safety procedures, water supply tactics for the burn, fire suppression and search techniques.  When Saturday morning came the 

fun began.

With the assistance of firefighters from the Zachary Fire Department, District Six Fire Department in East Baton Rouge and the Baton Rouge Fire Departments firefighters from East and West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge got some great training.

Due to some of the modifications made to the house, firefighters were able to set numerous fires in the residence and extinguish them.  During these exercises firefighters using the Incident Management System searched the building, located the rescue dummy and removed him, located, confined and extinguished the fire and conducted ventilation and overhaul procedures.

Post burn critiques of each fire were conducted allowing firefighters to immediately see areas that they could improve and then go back and try it again.  

When the training was over firefighters stepped back and burned the house to completion while enjoying a nice jambalaya lunch.

Firefighters left that afternoon tired and smelling of smoke after picking up all of their equipment and returning the trucks to service, but they also left with some valuable training and experience that will allow them to serve their communities better and more safely.  Firefighting is a dangerous but rewarding profession, even for those of us who volunteer.   These volunteers are continuing to show their professionalism by working to constantly improve the services they provide to their communities.

Firefighters would like to thank the following organizations, businesses and people for their support and assistance in making this training become a reality.

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Buzbee who donated the house.

Sheriff J. Austin Daniel who provided trustee labor, deputies for traffic control and portable restroom facilities.

Capt. Glenn Triche of the Zachary Fire Department, Firefighters Michael Kimble, Dean Harrell, and James Wood of the Baton Rouge Fire Department, Firefighter Stefin Martinez of District 6 Fire Department,  Capt. Jimmy Dutch and Firefighter Chris Dwyer of WFFD.  These men gave of their time and energy to serve as the burn and safety teams throughout the day.

Carpet Kingdom of Baton Rouge for donating carpet that was put in the house.

Robert Triche for spending his day off working on the house.

Mr. Steve Neal and David Jennings who donated furniture.

If you would like to donate a building to be used by the department for training please e-mail Asst. Chief Walter Oliveaux or contact your local fire department.