Even though the power has been shut off and it's scheduled for demolition, a vacant house off of Eisenhower Road is a prized locale for members of the Leavenworth Fire Department.
Assistant Chief Mike Lingenfelser said firefighters plan to squeeze quite a bit of training into the next few weeks before the house at Eisenhower and Winslow roads is razed.
He said the department doesn't have the opportunity to train in such a facility on a regular basis.
Members of the Fire District No. 1 of Leavenworth County, which is based in Lansing, also planned to train in the house tonight, according to that department’s chief, Rick Huhn.
Lingenfelser said members of a county bomb team also may use the house for training.
The use of the house was donated to firefighters. The property eventually will be used for a retail center as part of the Eisenhower Crossing development.
On Monday afternoon, a machine was used to fill up the vacant house, which is located on the Lansing side of Eisenhower Road, with nontoxic smoke.
A small mannequin had been placed inside the home. Two Leavenworth firefighters were sent in with a hose line to rescue the plastic child. They were searching in the total darkness created by the thick smoke.
One firefighter returned outside with the mannequin. Then, as part of the scenario, a radio call alerted those outside that the other firefighter who had gone in was in trouble. Two additional firefighters, who had earlier helped feed the hose line, were then sent in to help their fallen colleague.
Lingenfelser said Leavenworth firefighters know how to do this kind of work "but they don't get to practice it much."
"We'll be doing some other scenarios out here," he said.
Lingenfelser said there may be additional training involving working with hoses and rapid intervention teams, which are used to rescue crews already inside or help with multiple victims.
He said firefighters may practice using thermal imaging cameras which can help them locate people in thick smoke. He said a mannequin won’t work for such an exercise because it doesn’t generate the heat of a live person, so a firefighter would have to stand in as the victim.
He said firefighters will be using the site to work with ladders and practice making forcible entries.
Lingenfelser said firefighters also may work on ventilating the house and tearing through drywall to gain access to someone who is trapped.
"We're trying to keep (the house) intact for now," he said.
He said one Leavenworth firefighter already has provided training at the house on bail-out techniques involving ropes and ladders.
"We might even do an extrication scenario," Lingenfelser said.
He said firefighters may be given a scenario of a car striking a post of a carport that extends from the garage, causing the structure to collapse on top of the vehicle.
