The Brunswick Fire Department used old portable classrooms at Jordan Acres School to practice during a controlled burn Monday. Black smoke billowing into the air was visible for miles, drawing a crowd to the unannounced practice burn. (Darcie Moore / The Times Record)
Spectators gathered a safe distance from the flames, many drawn by the thick, black smoke that billowed into the air and could be spotted from other areas of town.
Deputy Fire Chief Donald Koslosky said the controlled burn started around 6:30 p.m.
The Brunswick School Department allowed the fire department to do training in the building in October 2011, and, in return, the fire department agreed to burn and demolish the portables to save money for the school department.
Most of the structure burned quickly, and Koslosky said firefighters would wait for it to continue burning down before putting water on it to ensure it wouldn’t spark an unplanned fire.
“We were pulling some hose lines around and we were doing some master streams and testing a new product (Blitz Fire) that we were looking at buying,” Koslosky said.
Similar to a big deck gun placed on top of fire trucks, Blitz Fire shoots a large master stream that moves about 2,000 gallons of water.
Firefighters had to prepare the building to make sure there was no asbestos, and anything salvageable had to be removed beforehand. They had to wait for good burning conditions as well, as rain was forecast for overnight.
Koslosky said the media wasn’t notified of the burn because, for safety reasons, the fire department didn’t want to draw a large crowd to watch the blaze.
Nevertheless, Monday’s fire drew a crowd, including many children firefighters had to keep an eye on and keep a safe distance away. Many of the children on scene Monday watching the portable classrooms burn and listening to the loud booms as walls collapsed in hot flames, commented on how they had gone to kindergarten there, and could point out where their classroom was.
Brian Cobb, 9, said he was one of the students who attended kindergarten in the portable building, where there was a music and art room as well.
“My classroom … it burned a while ago,” Cobb said, as flames lapped at what was left of the structure at the far end. “I don’t want to have class in it now. It would be a little warm.”
Conflicted about the burn, Cobb said, “It’s awesome but sad. It’s fun to see it burn, but I don’t like to see it burn.”
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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