Neighbors say vehicle burn training is a quality of life concern
When Carl and Julie Kirk moved into their Glenmont home three years ago, they knew full well that firefighters would be training right down the street.
It’s hard to miss the four-story fire tower at the Kevin M. Shea Fire Training Facility, after all, or the squads of volunteers meeting several times a week to practice fighting fires, maneuvering trucks or rappelling off the structure. These things haven’t really bothered the Kirks, the couple said, but there is one training exercise they wish would go away: vehicle burns.
When we bought this home we realized there was a fire school there, but we did not realize the extent of the cars of they’re burning, Carl Kirk said. `We understand that they have to practice, but we need to find ways that they can practice without impacting the community.`
The Kirks recently brought to Bethlehem leaders their concerns about what they feel is potentially harmful smoke blowing onto their property from the burns. They said several of their neighbors have similar concerns about the burning of vehicles.
The town’s five volunteer fire departments all share the fire training facility, which is owned by the town. They all pay $3,000 each every year into a fund that covers upkeep.
James Kerr, president of the Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Officers Association, said this is the first time in his 34 years with the Delmar Fire Department he’s aware of a complaint being lodged against operations at the training facility.
`This is the first time that I know of that this has become the issue that it’s become,` he said.
Kirk said there have been around 30 car burnings this year, including a recent school bus burning. Kerr said he thinks that number is lower but did not immediately have an exact figure.
The Kirks said the recent burning of a school bus was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The winds that night blew the smoke toward homes.
`It was a nice balmy evening,` Carl Kirk said. `We had the windows open, and they put a bus on fire, about a 50 passenger school bus…the fumes and the smoke from it happened to come into this end of the community.`
When a fire department trains on a car fire, paper and wood are used to start a burn inside the vehicle. The gas tank is either removed or drained and filled with water.
`What gives off most of the toxic gases is the plastic, and the vinyls and the upholstery,` said Kerr.
Kerr said firefighters combating the blaze wear full protective equipment, including a self contained breathing apparatus. Other personnel standing perhaps 30 to 40 feet away do not wear respirators.
`We never considered it to be enough of a hazard that far away that it would be an issue,` Kerr said. He said the nearest house to the burn site would be 100 to 150 yards away, and added that in most instances the prevailing winds carry smoke away from residences and towards the ravine to the east.
Kerr said the fire departments have made procedural changes over the facility’s 40 years of operation, eschewing the burning of gasoline, furniture, hay and tires. Now, for simulated vehicle or structure fires, they use wood and paper to start blazes.
The Kirks outlined their complaints at a recent Town Board meeting. Though town leaders said they’d be speaking to the fire departments about the issue, it looks like the limit of the town’s role would be as mediator.
`There may be some real limits to what the jurisdiction of the town is in this matter,` Supervisor Sam Messina said.
Greg Gould, a representative of the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, said the practices at the training grounds are well within regulations dictating fire training in New York.
`They meet and exceed what I do through the state,` he said at the board meeting. `It’s a necessary evil, to be honest with you…if the objective of the training exercise is to put out a burning car, they have to put out a burning car.`
Later, Messina said coming to a solution to this problem would probably involve a discussion between all parties. He mentioned the possibility of a policy regarding wind direction when it comes to controlled burns. Moving the training facility, he said, `would be not only very expensive, it would be logistically problematic.`
The Kirks suggested another option: purchasing a vehicle fire simulator, a mockup of a car that generally burns propane to create a fire to battle.
`If there’s an alternative, it should be looked at by these fire companies,` Julie Kirk said. `We’re just questioning, does it have to be in the neighborhood?`
Such simulators start at over $40,000, said Kerr, and though the fire departments will discuss the possibility of purchasing one, he said budgets are already stretched and an unscheduled capital purchase could mean tax hikes.
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