IFFD conducts controlled fire training at building on Milligan Road

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The area near Snake River Landing filled with heavy smoke early Wednesday afternoon, but don't be alarmed. The fire was part of a rare type of training by the Idaho Falls Fire Department.

Firefighters were the ones who lit a fire for a change, on an old home donated to the city.

Once lit, the firemen were able to observe and combat the blaze.

"You can see what's happening," local firefighter Jeremy Koemig said. "This is definitely the best preparation we can do for a real live fire."

The donated home was filled with wooden pallets and other fuel to simulate furniture and the reality of a typical home.

The training focuses on preparing recruits for fighting fires in the field.

"Our recruit, when he comes on duty 2:00 in the morning, he'll have an idea what it's like to go in on a real structure fire," Fire Training division chief Wynn Whitmeyer said. "(They're) searching for occupants and extinguishing the fire and then doing salvage and overhaul and and property conservation."

He tells us while they have other simulations the opportunity to fight a controlled fire in a real home doesn't come often. He says they will capitalize on those chances when they do come.

"We do have training props that we can burn that are metal that don't show real life fire within wooden structures," Whitmeyer said. "So this this house right here is a perfect example of of what you're going to run into on a regular 48 hour shift that the firefighters work in."