Local fire crews got to practice their firefighting skills in a live fire training exercise Tuesday morning in Atascadero.
A property owner on Aguacita Ave. donated two buildings for firefighters to use in their training.
Crews set the buildings ablaze, then practiced search and rescue, interior fire attack and ventilation techniques.
"We can train in a fire station, we can train in real life, but until you have smoky conditions, the heat from the fire, the visibility issues, and everybody coming together to work under emergency circumstances, that’s where this training becomes invaluable," explained Chris Elms, CAL FIRE Public Information Officer.
Firefighters practice structural firefighting techniques at a home in Atascadero. (KSBY photo)
Crews from CAL FIRE, Atascadero Fire and Santa Margarita Fire participated in the training burn.
At the end of the day, firefighters allowed the buildings to burn completely, as the homeowner planned to demolish them.
Aguacita training burn has been completed. Crews trained on search and rescue, interior attack, & ventilation. Once training was completed the structure was burned down. Crews will remain on scene until all hot spots are extinguished. @ATAFireL3600 @AtascaderoCity @SantaSmv7800 pic.twitter.com/Ft9UnTDc1y
— CAL FIRE SLO (@CALFIRE_SLO) May 22, 2018
