Firefighters wreak havoc on aging Kapahulu home
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Tearing down a home is never much fun, but the Honolulu Fire Department would like to help.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Yesterday at Barry Langlieb's house in Kapahulu, firefighters knocked down doors with a battering ram, carved open walls with a chain saw and tore out ceiling material with pikes — all in the name of training.
A gas-powered blower was used to ventilate the training house and create a positive air-pressure environment.
Langlieb was pretty happy about the demo work; so were the firefighters, who never get to train in such realistic conditions.
"They could have burned it, done anything they wanted to do with it," Langlieb said. "It's coming down in a few days anyway."
Two ladder companies — one from McCully and the other from Waikiki — participated in the morning exercise.
Setting fire to the 60-year-old home, however, was out of the question because it was too close to other homes.
"Even though we can't light it on fire, we can do all kinds of things," said Capt. Terry Seelig, with boyish grin. "Progressive search and rescue drills, more firefighting survival drills. We can simulate dangers and help firefighters learn to avoid falling through a floor."
Using a real home to train in is a rare opportunity and firefighters can go years without using the equipment or techniques needed, even in real fires.
"The process of drilling on real things is limited," said Francis Andrews, a ladder company captain at the Waikiki Fire Station. "This gives us hands-on with a real live house."
Fire Department officials are hoping for a few more dilapidated houses, or a high-rise, to tear apart. If yours is available, call the training bureau at 422-0827.
"Nothing can ever replace what we did today," Seelig said.
