Butler fire chiefs on lookout for vacant properties for training
For firefighters, no training or classes can duplicate the experience of being in, and fighting, an actual fire.
That’s why the Butler County Fire Chiefs Association, an organization that provides training for firefighters across the county, put out a call on social media earlier this week for any interested parties to donate any vacant properties which are already marked for demolition. The association wants to use these properties for “live-fire” training.
“We always look for acquired structures to do training in,” said Butler firefighter Sean Sokolowski, who is also on the association’s board of directors. “Using real buildings provides us an opportunity to do more realistic training, so we’re always on the hunt for buildings like that.”
One memorable example took place earlier this year, when fire departments across Butler County held a live-fire training exercise at an abandoned building on New Castle Street which once served as a domiciliary for VA Butler Healthcare. The building was demolished not long after.
So far, as of Wednesday, Nov. 20, Sokolowski said that “four or five” people have reached out and shown interest in donating their properties for use as training sites.
According to Sokolowski, there are certain steps that need to be taken before the association can ensure that the building is usable for training purposes.
“There are certain parameters that the property needs to meet, as well as inspections through the (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) in order to make sure it's asbestos-free and safe,” Sokolowski said. “A lot of times what we ask is the property owner to pay for those testings.”
Sokolowski said that no money changes hands when the fire chiefs borrow properties for live-fire training.
“Normally, the building is donated for the use of the property by the training association,” Sokolowski said. “The property owner is still responsible for that property.”
The live-fire training at the VA Butler Healthcare building last year was a special case, since that was a massive three-story building.
“I would say (we conduct training) a handful of times of the year … in single-family homes that people are getting rid of,” Sokolowski said, “Training such as what took place at the VA … buildings like that don't come available very often. That’s few and far between when an opportunity like that happens.”
Sokolowski said that live-fire training can serve as a benefit for property owners as well as fire departments, since the training will leave much less of a building to demolish once the training is over.
“We would do a live-fire training in there, and at the end of it, there’s a lot less of the building for them to have to tear down whenever we’re done,” Sokolowski said.
Those interested in donating their soon-to-be-demolished properties for use as live-fire training sites can reach out to the association through Facebook direct message.
