Renton fire crews doing live-fire exercise this week

The Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department is conducting a special training exercise for firefighters next week, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, that will include a live fire.

The house being used for the live-fire exercise was donated by John C. Radovich Development Co. and is at 4518 Talbot Road S. Training will run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

“We don’t get many opportunities like this that provide realistic training for our firefighters and officers,” said Capt. Roy Gunsolus, with the department’s Safety/Training Division. “This experience offers hands-on training in the areas of incident command, search and rescue, ventilation, thermal imaging technology, and other firefighting techniques which are very important to our operations and require training in a realistic environment.”

There will be a number of fire engines, firefighters and equipment in the area during the training. Some smoke may be visible. The city received permission to conduct the exercise from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, which monitors and requires extra precautions be taken to minimize impacts on the environment. This includes removing items such as asbestos, oil- or tar-based roofing and shingles, carpet and linoleum prior to burning.