Fire departments don’t often get advance notice about when a structure will burn down, but that’s the position Ashcroft Fire Rescue (AFR) was in on Saturday, April 5, and they made the most of the opportunity.
AFR chief Josh White says that late last year the owners of a property on Kirkland Ranch Road, on the Oregon Jack Band reserve beside Highway 97C south of Ashcroft, reached out to AFR to see if the department was interested in burning down the house on the site as a training exercise. The house had been condemned several years earlier, and the owners — who have plans for the site — wanted it removed.
“I jumped at the opportunity right away,” says White. “The last house we had donated [for fire training] was around 2012, so these opportunities are huge but they’re few and far between, and we didn’t want to pass it up.”
While AFR has agreements to provide structural fire protection in some areas outside village boundaries, it doesn’t have one with Oregon Jack, and there were some administrative, legal, and environmental boxes to be ticked. Once this was completed, plans were put in place for the controlled burn on April 5, which involved 15 members of AFR and four members from the Cache Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
The day started at 8 a.m. with a briefing at the Ashcroft fire hall, and work at the site started just after 9 a.m. with some hydraulic ventilation, which involved firefighters using the stream from the nozzle to eject smoke from the house.
“We did a few scenarios where we watched how the fire behaviours would grow, then did knockdowns and started again," says White. "Almost everyone had a chance, so it was a great learning opportunity.”
The final burn started just after 11 a.m. White says that apart from a few wood pallets, a mattress, and a couch that had been placed inside for training purposes, there was no fuel load inside the house; none of the furniture, appliances, fabric materials, plastics, and more that would be inside a standard home, and which would contribute to a faster burn.
“It was amazing to see how fast it went: from initial burn to roof collapse was 17 minutes with no fuel load,” says White, noting that unlike a “normal” structure fire, every window of the house was open and it was well-ventilated.
“Once a fire gets going and starts breaking glass on its own, though, it gets oxygen, and it would burn faster with a fuel load. Plus this house was built in the 1970s. In more modern homes construction has changed in a way that allows homes to burn faster, plus plastic goes up really fast, which is why it’s so important to have working smoke detectors.”
White notes that there were probably half-a-dozen firefighters taking part in the exercise who were getting their first real experience of a structure fire, which gave them an invaluable hands-on opportunity.
“It’s quite different when you’re working with live fire. It’s a whole different world, and you can never simulate it. On practice nights, when we’re out in the park doing hose lays or working with streams, it’s hard to envision there’s a fire there or what the heat is like. I had members saying ‘Wow, when you put your visor down it really takes the heat away.’ It’s eye-opening. Training is fantastic and we learn lots, but nothing beats a live fire exercise. Seeing how your equipment protects you: you can’t simulate that.
“We appreciated working side-by-side with Cache Creek, as it builds us up as a team in case we get a structure fire in either community. And it builds morale. Now we know what we’re capable of.”
Firefighters were on site until 2 p.m., and White stayed until 5 p.m. He says there was a site debrief right after the incident: “Everyone was in shock, but it was a happy shock. They were all tired, too, so we’ll have another debrief [at fire practice] on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the firefighters for coming out and working so hard on the day. I couldn’t be prouder of the crew and how hard they worked. I know that when my retirement comes around — and no, I don’t have a date yet! — there are a lot of men and women I can trust the department to, because the knowledge and skills they bring are phenomenal.
“Thanks to Oregon Jack chief Matt Pasco and council, for giving us permission to carry out fire operations on band land, and thanks to Ashcroft council, for allowing us to carry this out. Huge thanks to Ashcroft CAO Daniela Dyck: I know there was a lot of red tape to sort out.
“Thanks also to the Cache Creek firefighters who joined us, and the Ashcroft Bakery for providing food. And members from BC Emergency Health Services were there to watch, and provide a bit of safety in case it was needed. It made me feel comfortable having them right there.”
White adds that it was great dealing with the Froste family, and thanks them for a “wonderful gift.”
“This doesn’t come to us every day. If we get a working structure fire here in town now, our new people have that knowledge, have that experience. It builds up resilience, and might take that adrenalin down a notch. They’ll be thinking ‘It’s another fire and we have a job to do; let’s get it done.’”
