CBFD Burn to Learn Exercise, June 21

News release CBFD.  Coos Bay Firefighters will be conducting a Burn-to-Learn training exercise on Saturday June 24, 2017 beginning at 8:30 am. The location of the burn is at 2750 Ocean Blvd.   The Fire Department will be reducing the westbound traffic to one lane on Ocean Blvd from 26th Street to 28th Street during the fire operations.   The exercise should be completed around noon. The majority of emergency 911 calls that firefighters respond to involve medical emergencies.  Less than 10 percent involve actual fires. Over the last couple of decades, the numbers of fires and fire deaths have declined, thanks to some outstanding efforts in fire prevention.  But this also presents another problem for firefighters, and that is the ability to consistently hone their skills in firefighting tactics under true fire conditions.  The Fire Department is excited about the opportunity it has to provide its firefighters with this training. There are numerous firefighting skills that the firefighters will be able to develop.  Some of those include fire behavior, ventilation control techniques, water supply, and fire streams to name just a few.  The Department has recently brought on nine new volunteer recruits, and this may be the first time they have had a chance to practice the skills and knowledge they have been learning over the last few months in a real-life situation. Being able to observe this initial start and the growth of the fire gives firefighters a better understanding of how the fire will react within the building, and how it reacts with personal belongings such as furniture and other household items.  Seasoned firefighters and officers will be able to point out things like fire endurance, the amount of time that a building continues to exhibit fire resistance which is crucial to deciding whether to perform an offensive or defensive attack.  In all, this knowledge is what keeps the public and the firefighters safe. If anyone has questions regarding this fire exercise or has a structure that they would like to have burned for firefighter training, please contact Coos Bay Fire Department at 541-269-1191.