Firemen use dilapidated house on Martin Luther King Drive as a good training exercise
Two goals were accomplished Tuesday morning with a controlled house burn in Flomaton that eliminated a nuisance property and gave firefighters first hand training on battling a house fire.
Firemen from Flomaton, Century, Friendship and Barnett Crossroads, along with a MedStar ambulance crew and Flomaton police participated in the burn at 104 Martin Luther King Drive.
"The owner's family contacted Mayor Bondurant and asked if we could burn it," said Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton. "He called me and I said we could as a training exercise."
Stanton said prior to any such controlled burn all utilities must the cut off, any asbestos siding must be removed and if the house has roof shingles, they must also be removed. The house burned Tuesday had a metal roof.
Stanton said the control burns train firemen in forced entry, entering a burning building and controlling the blaze.
"It's the same thing they would do at a real fire," Stanton said. "It's excellent training and puts firemen in real life situations."
Firemen were on scene until the house was completely burned and extinguished. Stanton said it's now the responsibility of the property owners to haul off the debris.
