City Times Staff

Local firefighters on Wednesday will conduct a live-fire training burn on a vacant multi-family home on Cypress Street.

The home is located at 1917 Cypress St. — property recently acquired by the city — near the Stevens Point Water Dept., and has been cleared for destruction, according to Stevens Point Fire Chief Bob Finn.

“Burning an acquired structure is a practice performed far less frequently than in prior years, due to the arduous process to be within all regulations,” a news release from the fire dept. reads in part. “Before being able to conduct this training, state DNR approval, asbestos abatement and site preparation have occurred for the safety of the public and those participating in the training.”

The burn will occur throughout the day on Sept. 28, causing “large amounts of smoke” to pose some visibility issues on nearby roadways, the release reads.

The exercise is similar to a live-fire training burn they dept. conducted on Green Ave. in June.

All Metro Fire partners, to include Hull and Plover fire departments, were also invited to participate.

The training firefighters receive during these events, according to the release, are “second-to-none” because it’s a close simulation to a true emergency involving a home fully-engulfed in flames.

“Training by SPFD personnel is vital in maintaining knowledge and proficiency in fire behavior, fire suppression, search and rescue, incident management, communications and other response-related disciplines,” the release reads. “Objective-based scenarios have been developed in order to follow National Fire Protection Association standards for safe and effective training.”

In its news release, the department thanked the city, the water and streets departments, Stevens Point police and Mr. Dave Sobczak, the property owner to the immediate north, for their support and cooperation with the upcoming burn.