Firefighters in Kansas Test Skills in Abandoned Building

Inside the abandoned office building in downtown Overland Park, Jason Houghton struggled through the smoke and the dark.

He held a tube from his oxygen tank, trying to screw it into the gas mask of his Overland Park Fire Department co-worker Ron Stewart, whose tank wasnt working. Time was running out, and Houghton labored to get the threading to match up.

Haughton held a fat black flashlight under his arm, the light trickling though the thick smoke in waves.

No, no, this way, Stewart yelled, turning the tube around to face a different hole near the tank.

Then, finally, the hose was connected. In a real fire, Stewart could have resumed breathing, and the rescue of anyone trapped inside could have continued.

But Wednesday afternoon, it was only trainingthe first large-scale rescue training operation the department has been able to do in a real office environment, said Jerry Brenner, the departments training officer.

The experiment included techniques the department has never tried before, including chain rescues with a long, weighted rope and several firefighters, and emergency situation drills in baby-powder smoke like the one Houghton and Stewart completed.

As Overland Park grows, so do its structures, Brenner said. From office towers in Corporate Woods to sprawling retail stores like Office Depot, the need for large-scale fire rescue has become a reality for a fire department that, in many ways, is still designed for small-scale operations.

So the department, searching for new techniques for large-scale rescues and operations, found ideas for operations and equipment in the rescue tactics of the Kansas City, Mo. Fire Department and other, larger departments.

The new techniques included a rope with rings every 25 feet that firefighters can follow deep into a dark building, using the rings to tell how far they have traveled.

They also practiced several team-based rescue operations, using both the rope and the buddy systema chain of firefighters from the door of the building to where victims might beto find and carry out a life-sized dummy weighted to feel and behave like an unconscious person.

Brenner supervised all of the operations using heat-sensitive goggles that could see through a wall of smoke as if it didnt exist.

During the week, the department cut holes in air ducts and tested techniques for removing sections of wallsall before the old building comes down later this year.

The abandoned former audio equipment sales building at 83rd and Floyd streets has provided the perfect opportunity to work in an area that is both set up like an office building and strewn with debris like a disaster area.

Inside the building, it looks like a bomb went off. Smoke pours through the corridors. Ceiling tiles are scattered about or liquefied by months of ceiling leaks. Boxes, phones, cords and drywall line the carpeted floor, making every darkened step a challenge.

But the space also has a wide, semi-circular reception desk and concrete support beams, and the whole place is flanked by several stairwellseverything a real office building would have.

Its perfect, Brenner said.

We cant go to Corporate Woods and tell them were going to fill one of their buildings with smoke, Brenner said. This allows us to try something new.

And for the most part Wednesday, the training was swift and efficient, with firefighters walking into the black, smoke-filled space to try something new, and exiting to applause from co-workers.

After Houghton and Stewart got their mask and oxygen tanks connected, they turned, fumbled for the doorknob, and walked out.

Stewart threw his mask and helmet down on the grass near the door, his face soaked with sweat.

Its frustrating in there, Stewart said, wiping the sweat away.

Behind him, Houghton was sliding his tank off of his back.

Were training for the real deal here, he said. We have to make this as real as possible.

Distributed by the Associated Press