Floyd County firefighters get some practice

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

On a 40-degree still winter Sunday morning, firefighters gathered, got ready, closed off streets and started a house on fire.

The Charles City and Marble Rock fire departments began a controlled burn at 9 a.m. Sunday, March 5, to take down a nuisance house at the corner of Waller and South Johnson Streets and to get some practice.

Charles City Assistant Fire Chief and training coordinator Marty Parcher was in charge and the one who lit the house.

“We basically preplanned this so we have lines laid on all four sides. We’ve got two water walls,” Parcher said.

Between the fire and neighboring houses, several sprinkler like devices were going called water curtains. Those curtains helped protect surrounding houses.

“That water just absorbs all the heat and dissipates it,” Charles City firefighter Jason Webster said.

Prior to setting the house ablaze, the firefighters made it so the fire had access to the attic and anywhere else the fire might not be able to spread.

‘We’re going to use the power of the prevailing wind to drive it through and up the stairs,” Parcher said. “Hopefully light the whole thing up.”

Most of the Charles City Fire Department was present at the practice.

“It’s a training for us,” Parcher said.

The Charles City fire department doesn’t fight as many fires as the Chicago and New York fire departments so training is important, Parcher said.

Fire fighters sprayed water on the outside walls to keep them cool and assist them in collapsing inward.

Firefighters periodically threw rocks into the windows to break them and allow air in the house. The more air reacts with the fire the bigger the fire will get, and in the beginning the rocks were useful when the fire was confined inside.

The city scheduled the house for demolition months ago.

“It works out really well for us to use this as a training,” Parcher said.

During the fire, the Marble Rock Fire Department was both there to help with the training and to help out in case there was a fire elsewhere in Charles City.

“We brought them in case we have a real event in town. Marble Rock will be the first one to go with some of our guys to get the scene start while we change things here,” Parcher said.

The house successfully was burned to the ground, minus the chimney by 10:20 a.m.

The controlled burn went as planned with no surprises, Parcher said.

It was part of the cities effort to clear nuisance abandoned homes in Charles City.

Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City helped clear the home prior to the burning, Code Enforcement Officer Paul Hughes said.

“We want to clean up this area,” Hughes said. “We’ve been on it for about a year.”

After the area is cleaned up the neighbor is planning to buy the property, Hughes said.

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