By Tom Small
Last fall, the Cheesequake Fire Company in Old Bridge, New Jersey, decided to take advantage of some open land on their property and build a training prop. They started small and humble on paper then drew it to the scale of a regular, one-story building with a realistic-height second-story window and five foot parapet wall.
Current Features
- 12 on 12 pitch (45-degree angle) shingled roof with a 4 foot x 8 foot cutting surface with replaceable rafters.
- Flat roof with 4 foot x 8 foot cutting surface with replaceable rafters.
- First story window
- One inward swinging door for forcible entry.
- One outward swinging door with a deadbolt simulator for forcible entry.
- Regular-height second-story window.
- A five-foot parapet wall on the rear.
Future Features
- Interior floor with moveable walls
- Interior confidence course with wall breach, entanglement prop, and low crawl passage.
- Attached extension to building for a training maze.
(1) The department used an open field next to their storage building for the training prop.
(2) Firefighters work on the forcible entry and peaked roof vent features.
(3) A smoke generator was used to simulate visibility issues, although there were 25-mph winds on the day these photos were taken. Here firefighters work the 45-degree angle peaked roof cut.
(4) Firefighters work on the dead bolt simulator.
(5) Firefighters work the flat roof cut on top of training prop.
(6) Firefighters work a simulated parapet wall roof landing and venting.
Tom Small is the training officer with the Cheesequake Fire Company in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey.
