Crafton Hills College Fire Academy was burning up an opportunity they haven’t had for a generation this week. For the first time in more than 20 years the class conducted live fire training burns in an acquired structure.
Environmental issues and asbestos have made finding buildings for live training rare, but the former location of a restaurant called Rosie’s had just what the academy needed. “There’s no way to really duplicate structural fire conditions” in training centers, said Mike Alder, the college’s Fire Academy Chief, who has 30 years of service and years of classroom teaching under his belt. “You’re getting about as close as you can get to a real structure fire.”