BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead was concerned it might happen, and on Sunday, Nov. 17, it did — the old Camp Creek General Store was the target of fire.
However, the Barrhead Regional Fire Services (BRFS) started it on the municipality's terms to ensure that a fire in the dilapidated building was put out safely, causing no danger to surrounding properties.
The municipality has been attempting to clear the property for nearly two years, but county manager Debbie Oyarzun told councillors during their Nov. 19 meeting that the death of the property's owner complicated the process.
"So, we had to jump through a few other hoops to action the enforcement order, which slowed things up considerably," she said.
Oyarzun added that the most efficient and economical way to clean up the site was to do a controlled burn, which also provided the fire department with an excellent training opportunity.
BRFS chief Gary Hove agreed, noting the county asked the fire department to burn the property in mid-October.
He said the extra leadup time helped them plan a training exercise to take full advantage of the opportunity, including inviting the Fort Assiniboine Fire Department to participate.
Earlier in the week, county staff levelled multiple outbuildings, putting most of the debris inside the main general store building and limiting operations to the old general store structure at the front of the property adjacent to Highway 33.
Hove noted the timing of the burn was near perfect as several members of the Fort Assiniboine Fire Department were taking a structure firefighting course.
"So it was an excellent opportunity for them, as well as ourselves, to do some exterior firefighting tactics training," he said.
Hove added that the exercise also allowed them to teach how to read smoke and fire development, attack fires through windows, and get good water coverage.
"You have to get low and spray up towards the ceiling," he said.
Hove added that it also allowed them to work on exposure protection techniques, such as protecting nearby items like vehicles or other structures near the burning building and using their nozzle piercers.
"It is a large metal spike that water comes out of that allows us to punch through walls," he said.
Most of the training took place at the end of the building, as the middle or old store portion had already been the target of two fires and was, as a result, too structurally unsound to do any training.
Consequently, Hove said they utilized the ends of the old store, where the living quarters were for their training.
"The attic was perfect. At one end, there was a set of stairs leading into the attic and a living space, while the other was where the bedrooms were," he said.
The entire process took over two hours, with the training portion lasting about an hour and a half, Hove said, adding the long-abandoned building burned quickly.
"And we did want it to burn down, so we couldn't keep controlling it," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
