Members of the Weyburn Fire Department were doing some training at a local home last evening.

The firefighters were able to take advantage of the fact that the home will soon be torn down, and one of the ways they could do that was to get some experience with the ladder truck, busting through the roof of the old two-story home as a simulation exercise.

"Our practice last night covered two types of vertical ventilation. One was with the aerial truck where firefighters had to create a vertical opening on a pitched roof from a position where they were unable to stand on the roof due to an unstable roof," explained organizer Lindsey Leko. "This required them to use a chainsaw, rotary saw, or an axe to create an opening for gases, steam, and smoke to vent." 

"Part of this exercise involved, proper placement of the aerial truck, outside of a collapse zone, and free of any obstructions or hazards like powerlines. The aerial ladder needs to be able to swing around and reach all areas of that roof," he said. "While cutting the hole, the firefighters had to stay on the ladder and could not step onto the roof. This meant making cuts and having the ladder operator in a seated position on the truck move the ladder through communication with the team on the roof to make the applicable cuts."

Firefighters had to deploy the outriggers and put on safety gear while climbing that ladder. They want to ensure that the hole is cut directly above where the fire is to prevent hot gases and flame from spreading where they don't want it to go. 

"The hole is directly above the fire, allowing the smoke to go straight upwards, venting to remove the smoke, heat and steam, and can make the inside of the structure. Easier to search, survivable and safer for firefighters," Leko noted.

"On the opposite side of the roof, firefighters used a ground ladder, and a roof ladder to access the roof and safely cut a hole. 
This hole was created once again, using a chainsaw, rotary saw, or an axe. They are able to stand on this roof on this side and work from the roof ladder, which gives them support in the event of something bad happening."

In most cases, he said, they would use this type of ventilation to ventilate a roof on direction from incident, command, and coordinate it with an interior fire attack where water is being applied to the fire.

"It is very important to coordinate these efforts as venting, a fire, without putting water on it just promotes fire spread."

The 1898 Eaton's catalogue home, moved to Weyburn in 1910, is being cleared away soon to make room for a 1960s-era house being moved in from a farm, which was approved in October by Weyburn City Council. Read more HERE.