The Chattanooga Fire Academy 2015 recruits concluded their live fire training on Friday.
photo by Bruce Garner
The recruits in Chattanooga’s Fire Academy 2015 felt the heat Friday as they burned a large, two-story farm house down to the ground. The training staff has been running the recruits through their paces all week, putting out individual room fires and learning about fire suppression, search and rescue techniques and ventilation.
It didn’t take long for the house to become engulfed in flames, which facilitated the traditional class photo. At its peak, the heat was measured at 1,900 degrees with a thermal imaging camera.
The big house burn marks the end of fire training for the 21 recruits. If they make it through the training on vehicle extrication and hazardous materials, they will graduate on Thursday, Sept. 3.
The old farm house was 119-years-old and its owners said it was well beyond repair. So they donated the house for the purpose of providing excellent live fire training exercises. In return, the house was burned to the ground at the end of the week to greatly reduce demolition expenses.