Local Firefighters to Train in Donated Building This Week

Justin de Ruyter, Spokane Fire PIO, jderuyter@spokanecity.org


Monday, September 16, 2024 at 2:10 p.m.


This week, firefighters from Spokane County Fire District 9 and the Spokane Fire Department will conduct extensive training drills in a former commercial building slated for demolition. Frontier Behavioral Health generously provided this valuable training opportunity, with plans to develop the site into a new patient clinic.

Firefighters will focus on several critical drills, including laddering and ventilating a commercial roof structure, conducting victim searches in large open spaces under low-visibility conditions, and navigating and moving through these spaces. They will also practice deploying hoselines over distances greater than those often encountered in residential fires.

The training is scheduled from September 17-19 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. It may cause the closure of South Cowley Street between East Sprague Avenue and East First Avenue during these hours.

Firefighters sincerely appreciate Frontier Behavioral Health’s support, as the chance to train in buildings outside their usual training ground – especially commercial ones – greatly enhances our firefighters’ ability to develop and maintain the skills needed to operate in a wide range of construction types and building features.