CATHY MCKITRICK
The Salt Lake Tribune

To burn or bulldoze?

That is the question that Ogden officials must answer as they seek to rapidly raze 38 abandoned homes in Ogden's Riverfront redevelopment zone.

Ogden Fire Chief Mike Mathieu recently received the nod from the state Division of Air Quality to use the structures for live-fire training.

While most veteran firefighters salivate over the possibilities, the specter of senseless injury or death limits when and where they would actually toss a match.

"Nothing beats a live structure to train on," said Greg Reynolds, battalion chief over training for Salt Lake County's United Fire Authority (UFA). "To have that many would be like Disneyland."

Live-fire training must comply with the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) standards -- established after a tragic training accident in 1982 that caused two firefighter deaths.

"There is definitely a safety aspect that needs to be weighed carefully," said UFA Battalion Chief Clint Smith, "as to how far to push it before putting undue risk and danger on our line firefighters."

The live exercises involve much more than simply hosing down flames, Smith added.

"We don't always get to burn them," he said, noting that structures slated for demolition are also used for ventilation exercises, search scenarios and forcible entry.

Ogden faces the dilemma of 46 asbestos-filled eyesores that need to disappear as quickly and cheaply as possible. In the past 30 months, firefighters extinguished 17 suspected arson fires within the 60 acres marked since 2002 for a mixed-use renaissance village.

Some of the old homes already have holes cut in their roofs -- scars left from previous flame-free training sessions.

"When we did our truck operations class last year, we trained on five or six of those," Reynolds said. "You ask those firefighters -- they will guarantee it was worthwhile."

Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey has said that burning the houses down would save demolition costs by reducing the amount of debris that needs to be hauled away.

But UFA's Reynolds disputed that logic.

"When you put water to it," Reynolds said, "it's the same amount of haul -- unless you let it burn -- and that's not much training."

Jim Judd, president of Professional Firefighters of Utah, voiced concerns about unnecessarily risking life and limb.

"Acquired structures bring with them all kinds of unknown hazards," Judd said, "and fires can get out of hand when they attempt to use them for training."

Cost savings could also dwindle with all the hazards and contaminant mitigation that first has to take place, Judd added.

"There are inherent risks that you have to weigh against the value of the training," Judd said.

That's why NFPA's checklist is so important, said former Ogden Deputy Fire Chief Dave Owens, who now serves as program manager for Utah Fire and Rescue Academy.

"That [35-page] standard tells you exactly what needs to happen to have a safe and effective training session," Owens said. "Its not that you run in, throw a match and someone puts it out."

For several reasons -- including asbestos, air pollution, embers that could ignite nearby property, and neighboring residents who may suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments -- fire departments often forgo these opportunities.

"There are so many legal hoops and opportunities for lawsuits," said Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Brent Halladay. "It's not quite as simple as it once was, and many chiefs have said they won't do it anymore."

Each of the dilapidated Riverfront structures has now been inventoried, said Ogden Fire Marshal Matt Schwenk, but he doesn't expect any burns to begin until mid-September.

Asbestos inspections are also complete and removal should begin in the next two to four weeks.

At some point, some small-room fires could be set and extinguished for practice, Schwenk added.

"Ultimately we don't want to get the structures very wet," Schwenk said, noting that most training would take place in advance of any structures being allowed to burn to the ground.

"That is, if we burn" -- officials are still trying to determine if there really is a cost savings to burn rather than bulldoze, Schwenk said.

Godfrey and Mathieu could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

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August 18, 2010