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house outside of Oriental went up in flames Sunday afternoon. But no fire alarm went off. It was part of a controlled burn exercise for firefigthing students at Pamlico Community College and for volunteer firefighters throughout the county.

Fire consumes the front porch of a house on Hiway 55 just outside of Oriental Sunday. It was part of a training exercise for volunteer firefighters and firefigthing students from Pamlico Community College.

The exercise at the lot on Highway 55 went on for more than six hours. In the morning, fires were set inside the house and teams of three would go in to put them out. In the afternoon, the house, donated by real estate agent Ben Giacchino, was set afire with the intention of letting it burn to the ground.

Pamlico Fire Marshal David Spruill watches as firefighters train the water on a neighbors property to keep it from catching fire.

Instead of trying to put out that blaze, the firefighters focussed their energies instead on keeping it from spreading. They worked to protect a neighbor’s trailer and propane tank which were a mere 25 feet away.

That strategy of cutting losses is one that the county’s volunteer firefighting forces have to resort to when they arrive too late to save a burning structure. If time allows, Pamlico Fire Marshal David Spruill said, they sometimes disconnect and roll propane tanks away. Other times, as was the case Sunday, they work to keep the tank cool by a spraying it with water.

Keeping the neighbor’s trailer and propane tank safe was the focus, a rainbow the side benefit.

Four students from the PCC course took part in the exercise. They already work as volunteers with fire departments but were getting their certification. This class in fire control came after courses that taught them about various building construction, communication, and personal safety.

Jeff Troeltzsch. It was his students from a course at Pamlico Community College who were taking part in the exercise, along with volunteer firefighters who wanted the additional training..

Instructor Jeff Troeltzsch of the Oriental-area’s Southeast Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department explained that the students had already taken hours of courses to learn about the behavior of fires, the construction of buildings, roofs, and communication. The fire control course which he teaches, is one of the final steps.

The Sunday exercise, said Troeltzsch, would give them the experience of what it “feels like to walk down smoky hallways.” He said he tells his students to simulate this at home by filling their breathing mask with newspaper, putting it on, then trying to navigate around their own living rooms with music on. It’s an exercise in, he says, heightening their senses other than sight. The training is important because in a smoky building, vision is severely limited and they have to rely on sound and other senses to do their job and get out safely.

Robert Mayo tugs on his mask. A volunteer with the Reelsboro FD, he was taking the training course to earn a certificate needed to get a job as a paid fireman. While Pamlico county relies on a volunteer force, New Bern and Havelock have some paid firefighters.

Several students confirmed that. “Dark” was the word one after another used to describe what it was like when they went in to douse a fire. They could see the fire they were sent in to put out, but once they hosed it down, the light source was gone and in its place, more smoke and vapor than before. “You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face,” said Monique Robertson-Lewis, a volunteer firefighter in Havelock.

Before the fire. Pool of water at the ready in front of the house donated by Ben Giacchino for the fire-fighting exercise.

Robertson-Lewis shared a life-saving aid that firefighters use to lead themselves back out of a burning house. They hold on to the fire hose, she said, and feel — thru heavy gloves — for the notches where two sections of hose meet. The way to remember it, said Jeff Troeltzsch is “Smooth-bump-bump. To the pump.”

Smooth, bump, bump .. toward the pump. The positioning of the fittings tells firefighters which way leads out. (In this photo, the “pump” or pumper truck would be to the left.)

As the firefighters geared up Sunday morning, the air was filled with the sound of chirps and jangly bells. They were from the PASS — Personal Alert Safety System — monitors that send out signals when an oxygen tank is running low, or when it detects that a firefighter hasn’t moved in a while. (Inside a smoky structure, that can help colleagues find a fallen firefighter.) One of th more experienced firefighters noted Sunday morning may not yet know to jiggle a bit while waiting for the exercise to start in order to let the monitor know they’re okay.

Water used to keep the fire from spreading beyond the property.

Later in the day, whether because of that learned behavior or because of the activity, the sounds were less frequent. The air was much more filled with smoke.

More photos follow:

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Sunday morning’s exercise. Bales of hay were brought in to one room at a time and set afire and crews of three went in to put them out.

Gearing up. Masks are a necessity with the vapors in the air.

On the front lawn of the house to be burned, Fire Marshall David Spruill goes over the exercise with some of the students.

Going in.

Heading in, the hose as the tool to use inside and the guide to get back out.

The exercise was repeated throughout the morning.

Safety line of three firefighters at the ready in case the trio in the house ran in to trouble.

Going in, hands on. Several of the students spoke of the darkness they found inside, especially amid the smoke after dousing the fire. Instructor Jeff Troeltzsch says the exercise is one in sensory awareness; learning to get in and out by relying on senses other than sight.

Monique Robertson-Lewis, a volunteer with the Havelock Fire Department, takes five between burns.

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In the afternoon, the fire was set and allowed to burn.

The fire and especially the smoke created a shadow over the yard on Hiway 55. And where there’s smoke and shadow…

.. there’s fire. Fire spreads to the front.

Station 19 truck belonging to the Southeast Pamlico Volunteer Fire Department in front of the house on Highway 55 as the fire raged.

It took a while for the fire to reach the far left side of the house and its carport, but when it did, it came with a fury. In background, several firefighters rest near the road.

The concern for firefighters was the neighboring trailer and propane tank, just 25 feet from the flames. .

The fire crews worked the hose to keep the neighboring trailer and propane tank cool.

In addition to the fire, there were the rainbows every time the fire hose sprayed the trailer and propane tank.

Charlie Wynn, whose son’s trailer was closest to the fire, watches from a cautious distance.

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David Spruill, the county’s Fire Marshall, nears the back of the house.

After the garage fell.

Jeff Troeltzsch and Matt Harrison giving one last go over to the remains of the house. .

Retrieving the hose, as the remains of the house smoulder.

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Incident Commander Mark Jones, a volunteer with the Reelsboro Volunteer Fire Department (center) confers with Fire Marshal David Spruill after one of the exercises.

Timothy Jones tries on a mask, while his father Mark, a volunteer for 17 years with the Reelsboro VFD, worked as Incident Commander for the day, assessing how the exercise was going.

Matt Harrison of the Havelock Fire Department. A fourth-generation firefighter, his helmet carries a decal remembering his father, Scott who died fighting a warehouse fire in Pennsylvania a few years ago..

Pamlico County Fire Marshal David Spruill. “We could put this fire out if we wanted to,” he said, looking at the burning house. But that wasn’t the exercise on Sunday. Protecting neighboring homes and propane tanks was.

Posted Wednesday February 4, 2009 by Melinda Penkava