(KNSI) – A home in St. Augusta slated to be torn down provided valuable lessons to firefighters in its last days.
Lutgen Construction is going to be breaking ground at the location on a new facility soon, so the six-bedroom house was turned into a training demonstration for two area departments. Video has been provided to KNSI News, showing the controlled burn and several engines at the scene.
Some of the volunteer firefighters at the scene say Saturday’s training was unlike anything they have encountered in their life, even in the line of duty. 18-year veteran Jason Koshiol describes it as different than what someone sees on a TV drama. “I’ve never been in a fully engulfed room. A lot of it’s fighting from the outside or a structure that’s already not good to go in. So, just being inside, seeing the conditions, watching patterns, seeing how we ventilate the smoke out, and how it clears the room so fast. Just knowing now, if we ever…when we go in a fire in the future, we know what to do and how to react.”
Lutgen Companies President Sean Lutgen explains what made him think of using the property as a training tool. “My aunt and uncle were fire chiefs my whole life, growing up. So, I’ve always been in the fire world a little bit. I reached out to a couple of my buddies in local volunteer fire departments and wanted to see they wanted to use the house for a controlled burn. And they ended up training in it for about two months before today.”
Lutgen recently bought several properties along the highway and will be converting the lots into a new company headquarters.
Links to videos of the training are below:
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