Smoke billows from home...but instead of raging inferno, it's a learning opportunity

Smoke billows from home…but instead of raging inferno, it`s a learning opportunity

Smoke billows from home...but instead of raging inferno, it`s a learning opportunity

TOWN OF LISBON (WITI) -- Flames ripped through a home in the Town of Lisbon -- but this fire was set on purpose. It was part of Waukesha County Technical College's arson training for firefighters.

"It`s a couple hundred degrees on the floor and 1,000, 1,200 at the ceiling," Town of Lisbon Fire Chief Doug Brahm said.

Smoke billowed from the home set to be demolished in the Town of Lisbon -- but instead of an inferno, firefighters viewed the blaze as a learning tool.

"Training is ongoing all the time," Brahm said.

About 35 firefighters from Lisbon, Pewaukee, Hartland and Merton participated as Waukesha County Technical College and the National Fire Academy provided invaluable education.

"The Fire Marshals are setting those fires and letting them grow and we go in and put them out," Brahm said.

Better than any simulated situation, crews worked to extinguish the fires in a fully-furnished home -- using different attack methods.

"All this proficiency is really gained by actual practice like what we are doing," Brahm said.

Next, Brian Dorow, the Dean of Criminal Justice at Waukesha County Technical College says it will be up to fire investigators to figure out how all the blazes began.

"Every fire is different, as we know, so we are trying to replicate what an investigator might find at any given scene. There are six different fires we are starting. Some are intentional, some are accidental. That will be up to the investigator, the student to come and determine," Dorow said.

Soon, the students will sift through the singed belongings.

"When the students come through the class and they get split into teams and actually have to look through what we present to them and try to figure out how the fire started. Collect the evidence and come to some conclusion," Dorow said.

Skills learned at the torched home are vital because Dorow says solving arson cases is very complicated because the nature of the fire is very destructive.

"That's why it's so important to give these students, future arson investigators a hands-on experience," Dorow said.

The arson training classes are funded by the Department of Justice.

About 80 people applied, but only 24 students were selected. Those students will spend two weeks in classes.