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Buckhannon firefighters train in abandoned house

The Inter-Mountain photo by Amanda Hayes The Buckhannon Fire Department trains Monday in a vacant house behind West Virginia Wesleyan College.

BUCKHANNON — Old houses scheduled to be torn down in Buckhannon fueled more training opportunities for Buckhannon firefighters this week.

The houses in the 50 block of Randolph Street — located directly behind Camden Apartments — were to be demolished today. That left Sunday and Monday for the Buckhannon Fire Department’s career and volunteer firefighters to practice firefighting and life-saving skills in more realistic environments.

Buckhannon fire chief J.B. Kimble said the firefighters practiced advanced search and rescue techniques, hose line advancement and more in the three structures.

“It’s real beneficial because a lot of these houses are identical up and down the street — the same size, the same kind of layout,” he said. “When we are doing this one, it’s very similar — it gets us accustomed to the type of construction down on Randolph and Wood street so when we enter a building down in this area it’s kind of the same layout.

“Plus, it gets us training we don’t normally get from going room to room and dragging Rescue Randy from the front end of the house to the back end. You can only do so much at the firehouse.”

Career firefighter John Brugnoli said, “It’s huge because it is so hard to get ahold of houses that we are able to train in, and multiple structures at that.”

Firefighters have been able to practice ventilation techniques, break windows, breach doors and more.

“It’s real life,” Brugnoli said.

The training Sunday and then two shifts on Monday.

“This is the second day and we have had two full days of hard training,” he said. “When you go home at night, you are ready for bed. We appreciate everything Wesleyan is letting us do.”

Kimble echoed that sentiment.

He had asked Mayor David McCauley, who is also general legal counsel and a professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College, about the possibility of tearing down structures.

McCauley worked with Scott McKinney, the college’s chief financial officer, to sign an agreement.

“They were going to tear them down which is a win for them here to make a prettier area and we get to train in them,” Kimble said.

Something the firefighters also worked on Sunday and Monday was scanning the room and closing the doors.

Firefighters always stress in their safety presentations about sleeping with the door closed because it increases the chance for survival, according to Kimble.

The Buckhannon Fire Department trains regularly and Kimble said those trainings have increased in his 30 years in the fire service.

“It’s all about training and team work,” he said.

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