Sequim Fire Chief Justin Grider updated the City Council Monday, March 23 on the success of the Saturday, March 21 training exercise that allowed the fire department to set fire to and burn down an old, abandoned house at 1610 S. 3^rd Avenue.  During a power point presentation Grider said 47 firefighters from Fire District 3 participated in the exercise including 30 career firefighters, 11 volunteers and 6 explorers.

“We trained all day and it was phenomenal. We started at 0700 and about 2:15 in the afternoon we began our burn. We got 14 different evolutions done out of the 16 planned before the house began to fail. And so we pulled it down and we – well you can see the results there. We started with a house and ended up with a big barn fire and left a big burning pile of rubble.”

He said there we no injuries and no major equipment damages. The exercise provided over 305 hours of live burn training.

“It was fantastic training.”

Grider says he himself was not physically present at the exercise. He was at the City yards down the street where he and City Communications manager Barbara Hannah were explaining what was going on and answering questions from the public as they watched a live video feed that had been set up by the city to view the exercise as it unfolded.

”I think it went really well. We couldn’t have done it without you and just want to say thank you on behalf of Fire District 3 for allowing us to do that. So…I appreciate you all.”

PHOTO:  Clallam County Fire District 3