Abandoned mall will help train firefighters

The freeway bypass through Carson City may be a decade away, but firefighters will reap the benefits of its construction this week.

Carson City Square, at Highway 50 East and Lompa Lane, is scheduled to be torn down starting Oct. 23 to make way for Carson's freeway project. Before then, firefighters will use the 87,000 square feet of empty offices and store fronts to exercise their emergency skills.

Battalion Chief Dan Shirey, who coordinates fire training for the department, said he hopes to have several shifts of firefighters run through practice exercises starting this Saturday or Sunday. The exact date depends on how fast construction crews can unhook electricity, reroute plumbing and remove asbestos from the site.

Although Shirey would prefer to have a "live burn," the mall, now boarded up and closed for business, is too dangerous. Instead, a smoke machine will be used to simulate fire conditions. Firefighters will have the opportunity to practice search and rescue, suppression activities, laying hose and cutting fire ventilation holes.

"We'll set it up just like a real fire situation," Shirey said. "We're not going to tell them what's going on or what we are going to do. The point is to make it as realistic as we possibly can."

Shirey said firefighters will be dispatched to the mall the same way they respond to a normal call. When they arrive they will have to assess the situation, prepare a plan and follow through with the exercise.

Simulation exercises are normally conducted at a training facility next to the Carson Airport. Several area fire agencies use the cement buildings, fixed water hoses and even a section of airplane fuselage to sharpen their skills.