photo by Brie Cohen

Firefighters from Alden, Conger and Freeborn spray water from a fire hose into a second floor window of an abandoned farmhouse two miles west of Armstrong Saturday morning. The fire and rescue departments from these three areas were practicing putting out the flames.

Firefighters practice extinguishing fires

By Tim Engstrom | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Saturday, November 22, 2008

ARMSTRONG — The fire and rescue departments for Alden, Conger and Freeborn worked together Saturday on extinguishing fires at two homes two miles west of Armstrong.

The firefighters started at 7:30 a.m. and went into the afternoon practicing on the two blazes. It was cold, too. The air temperature at 7:30 a.m. was 23 degrees. By 10:30 a.m. it was 28.

Alden Fire Chief Scott Seipp said Saturdays are good days for training because people have most of the day available, and he said it isn’t often fire departments get to practice on actual structures.

Farmer Bob Nelson owns the two houses and allowed the fire department to burn them. They were largely abandoned, side-by-side farmhouses that shared the same driveway. The addresses are 21288 and 21290 680th Ave.

Seipp said fire departments in Freeborn County work well together and the sharing of resources between Alden, Conger and Freeborn serves as an example.

“You got to work together to get things done,” he said.

He said on controlled burns firefighters will set two or three rooms ablaze to simulate a typical house fire. Then they follow the training they’ve had, such as sending three firefighters in and three standing by as backup. State fire instructors were on hand, too.