House will be burned as a training exercise for local firefighters

By Jacquelyn Stoess Hack - Oldham Era, LaGrange, KY

A house on Ky. 146 in La Grange near the Kentucky State Reformatory will soon be destroyed by crews from La Grange Fire and Rescue and other local fire departments as a training exercise.

LFRD Major Kevin Thompson hopes firefighters will have at least 20 opportunities to set fire to the structure April 14 before it burns to the ground. It's a chance for LFRD's newest volunteers to use search and rescue techniques in a controlled environment and practice firefighter safety and survival skills.

Oldham County's Special Response Team, comprised of law enforcement personnel, has conducted training exercises in the building, and LFRD personnel have used the building during weekly training for volunteers as well.

The home's last tenants were state employees who kept the home and the property immaculate. The eyesore of seeing the home without shingles and siding has people wondering what will happen to the property.

Thompson said it has been at least five years since LFRD had a house donated for a training exercise.

"If we have an opportunity to train in a house like this, we use it as much as we can," Thompson said.

Thompson, a 13-year volunteer for LFRD, said training structures are difficult to come by these days.

As the economy took a downturn and new construction slowed, fewer property owners have structures they'd like to remove from their land, leaving local fire departments stuck without a controlled environment for volunteer firefighters to gain hands-on experience.

And for property owners that want a fire department to burn their structure, the process can be costly.

The EPA requires that property owners remove all pollutants from a structure before burning, including shingles and vinyl siding.

Property owners normally foot the bill for a structure to meet the EPA requirements, but in the case of the government-owned house on Ky. 146, inmates from Roederer Correctional Complex removed shingles and vinyl from the structure free of charge.

The house, formerly owned by the state department of corrections, is now owned by Oldham County government.

Officials purchased the property with plans to build a new headquarters for the county's recycling center and road department, but have since purchased an alternate location in Buckner with an existing building.
LFRD will spend $1,000 to $1,500 to prepare the structure for the training fire.

Preparation includes rigorous safety requirements and inspections mandated by the National Fire Protection Association. Firefighters mark exits within the structure, cover window openings with easy-to-remove plywood and will shuttle water from nearby hydrants.

Fire departments in Oldham County don't have a training facility for live fire exercises.

In the past, the closest facility was Middletown, although complaints from neighboring property owners have prompted limited use of the facility.

And for LFRD, the Middletown facility is too far from home. The only other facility in the Louisville area is located much farther down the road in Fern Creek.

Thompson said local fire departments need volunteers. Visit www.oldhamcountyfire.org for details.