Pyro practice

Ash Grove Fire Department hosts live burn training exercise
 
Residents on West Woodbine Road in Ash Grove were treated to a show Saturday morning as local firefighters ignited a partially burned out house—and all in the name of education. The live burn exercise began around 10 a.m. and lasted well into the afternoon as neighbors watched from porches and yards as the nearby building slowly went up in flames. According to Ash Grove Fire Chief Anthony Monnig, the former home—located at 711 West Woodbine—experienced a fire some two years back and was recently purchased by neighbor Tom West, who orchestrated DNR clearance to make the burn possible.
“Mr. West purchased the property and invited us to do some training in the house. He jumped through a lot of hoops from DNR and got the appropriate approval which freed us up to do some fire training,” Monnig, who lives next door, said.
Per DNR requirements, the structure—a modular home on a foundation—was stripped of all siding, carpet and most shingles before the burn.
A dozen local firefighters were on hand, taking part in different stations set up to practice their skill of battling blazes.
“The good thing about this is we get to utilize it for more than just the fire side,” Monnig said. “Our structure fires are fewer are farther between … so we forget some of our more basic skills like using a pike pole to pull a ceiling, breaching walls … and pump training, and this allows us to go through that type of training in a different environment.”