Firefighters start training in former model home
The house was full of smoke. Firefighters were notified that a fellow firefighter was down.
Unable to see, they were able to find him through all the smoke, unconscious or unable to move, and bring him to safety.
Thankfully, this was just a drill, conducted Tuesday at an old Aubuchon/Miloff model home tabbed their welcome center on Cape Coral Parkway just west of the Cape Coral Bridge.
The house, which has served as a model for about a decade, will be used to train new Cape Coral firefighters for the next few weeks before it is razed.
Mark Solich, fire battalion chief of professional standards, said the 10 new firefighters who were hired a month ago were undergoing rapid intervention training, with the house serving as a perfect real-life training location.
“We train year-round on firefighter survival, but we don’t get a floor plan such as this to recreate the opportunity that Aubuchon has provided us,” Solich said. “Typically, training it done in the bay of a fire station or parking lot.”
The Aubuchon Group got in touch with Cape Coral Fire Chief Ryan Lamb before July 4 to discuss the possibility of using the home before it’s destroyed. The firefighters will learn survival, destructive and other forms of training.
“We had an idea a few months ago where we would have police or fire come over and do some drills here,” said Jeff Miloff, partner with the Aubuchon Group. “We’re excited to have the firefighters out here today and excited to see our model go. It’s been a great house for us.”
Miloff said they thought about allowing it to be burned it down, but it was a long process with many hoops to go through.
Aubuchon has many houses currently under construction and new models planned, Miloff said. They have no current models, but there are plans for a new model home at the site.
The new firefighters were trained in rescuing a fellow firefighter, with artificial smoke billowing in the home to recreate a real fire scenario, with little to no visibility.
Firefighters then used their training in firefighter school to locate the firefighter (a dummy) and get him out of the home. They repeated the process several times.
Andrea Schuch, CCFD spokesperson, was in the home with a thermal camera, which used readings of temperatures to show where the firefighters were.
Also in the home was Matthew Schiavi, a new firefighter who was undergoing training. He said it was great to have a house in which to train.
“At the academy we were taught to practice how you play. To be able to do this is a great opportunity. I’m grateful,” Schiavi said. “This is the city I grew up in. To provide that protection for the community, I’m all for it.”