Press release from the Rio Dell Fire Department:

The Eel River Valley Fire Academy will be conducting a structure fire training burn on May 14th at 95 Center St. Rio Dell at the Rio Dell Middle School. The training is scheduled to take place starting at 8:00 am with multiple interior firefighting evolutions followed by demolition of the structure by approximately 2:00 pm. Traffic on Center St will be limited to residents only.

Through the generosity of the Rio Dell School District and the cooperation of the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, these new firefighters from in and around the Eel River Valley, will experience the opportunity to put the various skills learned in the academy to the test. One of theprimary objectives of the training will be to provide students the opportunity to experience live fire in a controlled environment, allowing the students to feel the reality of heat as in that of an actual structure fire. They will be taught the effects of using both improper and proper nozzle patterns to fight fire in a contained space such as the interior of a structure. Training of this type is invaluable and not easy to come by as structures which are available to burn for training are few and far between.

The live fire training will wrap up an intense seven week academy where new recruits have been taught entry level structural firefighting and rescue skills with the goal of bringing these new firefighters into compliance with National Fire Protection Association training standards and ensuring that they can operate both safely and efficiently on the fire ground and/or rescue scene.

A special thanks to Eel River Scrap & Salvage, Leonardo Logging, C W Wood Products, CNK Mechanic’s, Round Table Pizza, and all the Fire Department volunteers for their support.

Photo of the training provided by Mellisa Silva.