Antioch Volunteer Fire Department

Practice Makes Perfect!

Saturday January 21, 2006, approximately 35 firefighters and support staff from Antioch V.F.D., Hopewell V.F.D., Northwest Harris V.F.D. and Hamilton V.F.D. coordinated a training burn on a donated structure in the Northwest area of the county. Prior to the structure being becoming fully involved, firefighters took part in several practice scenarios consisting of first locating an unknown fire within the building and then properly extinguishing the fire. Following several hours of practice, the structure was safely ignited throughout and allowed to burn to the ground as firefighters and staff looked on.

We would like to provide thanks to the Antioch Firebirds for providing lunch for the firefighters and staff, and Harris County EMS for remaining on stand-by during the day's events.

Firefighters prepare the home for practice and to ultimately be burned down.	Incident commander Fred Norris looks on as firefighters prepare the drop tanks.
Firefighter Robert Johnson gets geared up to enter the structure for a training scenario.	Firefighters gather at the entrance to the structure in preparation to enter and attack the fire.
An unknown fire has been set in the structure, which firefighters will locate and extinguish.	Firefighters Roger Duke and Stewart Mills attack a fire at the entrance of the structure
After training, the structure was allowed to burn...	...and burn.
Safety officer and firefighter Ed Seeley looks on to ensure everyone on the scene is safe.	After approximately 30 minutes of free burning, the structure is undoubtedly fully involved.
The structure is nearing structural failure.	After approximately 45 minutes the roof collapses.
Hopewell V.F.D. firefighters stand-by with a safety line to keep the fire contained.	After an hour, most interior and exterior walls have burned and/or failed.
Three hours later, the structure has been reduced to ash and debris.	Captain Richard McKinney conducts a debriefing as firefighters prepare to terminate the scene.

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