Condemned Washington Ave. house scheduled for Monday burn
By Brandi Makuski
Stevens Point firefighters on Monday will burn down a house—on purpose.
A live training burn has been scheduled for Nov. 4 at 281 Washington Ave., just a few blocks east of Bukolt Park. The single-family home was previously condemned and the lot is now owned by the city.
A detached garage on the property has since been demolished, according to D.J. Schneider, building inspection superintendent.
Assistant Fire Chief JB Moody said it’s not a very common opportunity for firefighters, having the chance to study fire behavior outside the scene of an emergency. The department plans to use every moment to its advantage.
“We have a number of probationary firefighters in the department, and we want to give them some additional hands-on training inside an actual fire,” Moody said by phone on Friday.
Moody said the department has a number of probationary firefighters on staff, and the burn will be a beneficial training tool.
“We want to give them some additional hands-on training inside an actual fire,” Moody said.
The house is small, Moody said, so firefighters will only have time for a few “sets”: a series of training activities conducted inside the burning house to prepare crews for real emergency scenes. Backup crews will be staged along the property to protect nearby properties, and Moody said, “every precaution is being taken.”
Joining SPFD are two firefighter interns from Mid-State, along with two students from Citizens Academy—the latter being lucky winners of a lottery.
“They’ll be going into the burning house with us,” Moody said.
The neighborhood and surrounding areas will be filled with smoke throughout the day, Moody said, and a black smoke plume will be visible throughout the community. But several safety steps have already been taken, he said, to include asbestos abatement, and meeting with approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The department previously conducted a training burn on a donated Green Ave. home in 2017, and last year, a home near the water department.
Firefighters will be onsite beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, and the training burn will last through most of the day, Moody said. Nearby homeowners have already been alerted.