Four area fire department do training in Frankville

(Photos courtesy of Frankville Fire Department)

Members of the Frankville, Postville, Castalia and Ossian Fire Departments used a house donated to them by a former firefighter to conduct training, culminating with a live fire exercise Saturday, when they burned the house to the ground. 

Frankville Fire Dept. Assistant Chief and Training Officer Dan Howe said that former firefighter Darin Berg wanted the house demolished, and rather than just tear it down, he donated it to the department to be used for training.  "It's a great opportunity for our smaller area departments that don't have a high call volume, and only get to work structure fires a few times a year, to practice and learn very valuable skills that will help them operate more effectively in the future." Howe said.  "It also gives us all a chance to work with equipment that we might not use very often, and exercise the apparatus to keep everyone familiar with everything." 

About 30 firefighters spent the day Saturday practicing interior and exterior suppression tactics.  Then they stepped back to monitor the house as it burned down.
 
EMS personnel were also on hand throughout the day, monitoring vitals signs and other indicators of potential medical dangers. 

Frankville Fire Chief John Nielsen said afterward, "It was a wonderful training event involving four departments working together nicely."

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