By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
Firefighters trashed a condemned home in Mount Holly with ferocious purpose from the ground floor where they shattered windows and walls.
Up to the rooftop, where they sawed holes and ripped layers open. It was a rare practice session — a roof venting exercise — designed to clear smoke from inside a burning house.
“As we cut the hole in the roof, there’s crews down here that’ll be prepared to go inside with hose lines, search crews, so it’s all done in one fell motions,” said Mount Laurel Firefighter Jim Johnson.
“As they work together, they get to a point where they don’t need to verbally communicate — because as you can hear over the saw — communication is very difficult,” said Mount Laurel Fire Department Capt. Larry Fox.
It’s even tougher during a real fire where flames and smoke obscure vision. So when Mount Holly started demolishing condemned homes in its Gardens District, firefighters asked for a chance to conduct training under these unique circumstances.
“We do train often at the fire academy and those buildings are made to burn fire in. So they’re not designed to cut holes in the roof, like we saw or break windows or doors, so this truly is a unique opportunity,” said Deputy Chief of Westhampton Township Emergency Services Craig Farnsworth.
Here’s a Bail Out maneuver, take out the window, secure a rope and bail.
“We’re taking a somewhat bad situation of these houses being here and being demolished, and we’re using training to better our firefighters and the communities around us, Mt Holly, Lumberton, Mt Laurel’s here today, training,” Farnsworth said.
This well-named maneuver’s called a wall breach — when there’s no other way out of a burning building and firefighters get trapped.
“My only option is to go through this wall. On the other side, there’s a closet which leads to the outside. So if I go through this wall, I gotta get through the closet and I’m out the front door,” said Johnson.
Firefighters cover their faces and rehearse the wall breach while wearing full breathing apparatus, and then feel their way toward the door. They practice until it’s automatic.
“It’s very difficult. It takes a lot of training. A lot of time. Many, many hours of doing it until you feel comfortable doing it,” said Firefighter Bill Glassman Jr.
“Most of the guys that I work with have been doing this 15, 20, 30 years, so it becomes second nature,” said Johnson. And they still practice? “Something like this — to get an opportunity like this — you can’t pay enough for it,” he said.
The house is wide open and, yes there’s broken glass everywhere. But these practices are timed, so that demolition is imminent. Come back in a day and all this will be gone.