Racine Sun

Firefighters from at least four different departments were all recently on the scene in Racine County for a real house fire leaders used as a training tool.

With proper communication being the targeted goal, the Kansasville Fire Department worked with the three other area fire departments and Gateway Technical College on March 19 to oversee the training.

"All these guys that are out here, we work together quite often," Rochester Fire Department member Chandlor Schoen told Fox 6 News. "It’s great to get acclimated with your team more often."

Live fire training sets the stage for firefighters to come together and work on battling a blaze like one they might actually see during a real call for service.

"We have experienced firefighters on scene today and some very new firefighters," Gateway Technical College Fire Coordinator John Dahms said. "What's important is that they’re working together. Four fire departments working together and training. It comes together so much better on the real scene when you know and trust each other."

The house used for the training was donated by a homeowner for the express purpose of live training, making the practice as real as it gets for the firefighters who participated in the exercise.

"I can't place a higher value on anything as the most realistic training as we can get," Dahms said. "When we go to a training structure, it can't get into the walls or the attic. It can here. And those are the things we have to be hyper-vigilant on.”

Schoen is in full agreement.

"To actually go in and see it and train on it, it's nice because you can see the fire behavior, you can see it going over your head and get used to the conditions, so you know what you’re going into," he said.