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Burn School a “Raging” Success in Fort Oglethorpe

FORT OGLETHORPE, GA – Saturday, March 17, 2007 – The day dawned cold but clear, a snapshot of
the day ahead. Firefighters gathered at Station #1 in Fort Oglethorpe at 7:00 AM in anticipation of a long
day of training. For some, like the Chiefs of the department and several training officers it was the
culmination of months of long hard work. In Fort Oglethorpe a lot of planning goes into something like a
live burn with the safety of all those involved in the forefront of everyone’s mind.

After ensuring that all of the necessary equipment was ready, everyone loaded up and headed out to the
burn site, a donated house on Proctor Road about two blocks from Cloud Springs Road. Everyone in
attendance was looking forward to the day but none more than Ashley Salter, Rebecca Jackson and
Patrick Mathis. These three had just completed recruit school, taking their final written exam on Thursday,
March 15. It was very obvious that there was a real jumble of emotions going through their heads as they
prepared to embark on their next phase of training, entering a building on fire.

As Chiefs and training officers briefed all those involved, the department safety officer, Battalion Chief
Gary McGhee did a final inspection of the premises to ensure it was structurally safe for firefighters to
enter. Chief McGhee then met with everyone to go over the rules and regulations of the burn. Safety was
number 1 on everyone’s mind and it certainly showed in the preparations. All potential hazards in the
structure had been removed and there were several methods of ingress and egress. Experienced
firefighters were stationed both inside and outside during all of the training. Firefighter/paramedics were
identified for everyone and a particular place was set up should anyone need medical attention.

Once everyone was briefed, they were split into teams and the training began. First up was the group of
recruits. The idea was for them to enter the structure on a hose line, crawl into a room at the rear of the
structure where they would find a fire. The nozzle man (or woman) would extinguish the fire and then they
would back out. This step was repeated so each could get experience on the nozzle. Once this team
completed this training, each and every person present was given the opportunity to do the same thing.
This was done so everyone could get experience in knowing which patterns to move the hose depending
on the type of fire and also get experience in being inside a room on fire.

After this training, more evolutions involving live fire training were completed by all present. A break for
lunch was followed by even more training. One of the last things accomplished in keeping with the tradition
of the department was the burning of the recruit t shirts by the class. Each recruit entered the building,
one by one, carrying their red recruit shirt. Each entered the burn room which was on fire, and on
command tossed their shirt into the fire. As they left the building to a round of applause, they were given
an official department shirt.

As this training was winding down, the structure was deemed no longer safe for interior training and
everyone was pulled out. The order was then given for the house to be burned. As everyone watched,
including several local residents who were kept at a distance, the house quickly burned to the ground.
The heat generated by the fire was so intense that fire engines that were being used to supply water to
hand lines had to be continuously hosed down to keep the paint from burning off. Firefighters protected
adjacent areas of trees and grass as the house burned.

The day did not wind down until around 7:00 PM. By then everyone was extremely tired, but all agreed
that the day was a “raging” success. The recruits, now called rookies, were happy to have experienced
what they did and the experienced firefighters enjoyed the training which is the key to the success of Fort
Oglethorpe Fire and Rescue.

My thanks to Chief Bruce Ballew, all of the Chiefs, training officers, and everyone in the department who
graciously allowed me to be a part of the training and constantly underfoot taking pictures. All of you are
the greatest and I sincerely appreciate it. Congratulations to Ashley, Rebecca and Patrick on a job well
done.