Skip to content
The Gazette. Learn something new today and every day.

More Stories

Photos: Marion Fire Department uses donated house to train for real-life scenarios

The owners of a house that’s destined to be torn down invited the Marion Fire Department to use it for training on Thursday. Firefighters practiced creating a door out of a window, cutting a hole in an inside wall to crawl through, and a few rescue drills with a training mannequin.

Elizabeth WoodElizabeth Wood

Aug. 21, 2025 5:34 pm

Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach and Mike Behn remove pieces of the roof to create a vent during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Marion firefighter Bill Thomas said the house they were using for training is older, which allows the crews to learn about voids and work on different materials that new homes don’t typically have. Thomas explained that voids are empty or concealed spaces in the house where fires can be hidden. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach and Mike Behn remove pieces of the roof to create a vent during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Marion firefighter Bill Thomas said the house they were using for training is older, which allows the crews to learn about voids and work on different materials that new homes don’t typically have. Thomas explained that voids are empty or concealed spaces in the house where fires can be hidden. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion fire crews from Tower 91 and Engines 92 and 93 practiced cutting vents into the roof of a house during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the owners of the house allowed them to perform various training exercises before the house is demolished. Some of the training exercises included creating a door out of a window, cutting a hole in an inside wall to crawl through, and a few rescue drills with a training mannequin. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion fire crews from Tower 91 and Engines 92 and 93 practiced cutting vents into the roof of a house during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the owners of the house allowed them to perform various training exercises before the house is demolished. Some of the training exercises included creating a door out of a window, cutting a hole in an inside wall to crawl through, and a few rescue drills with a training mannequin. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Mike Behn and crew members watch as Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist points out objects that need to be removed before they continue to cut through the floor during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained that older houses can be challenging because they were built with harder and thicker wood, which takes longer to cut through and typically burns slower. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Mike Behn and crew members watch as Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist points out objects that need to be removed before they continue to cut through the floor during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained that older houses can be challenging because they were built with harder and thicker wood, which takes longer to cut through and typically burns slower. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist explains different methods to make a hole in the wall to Tanner Frank during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist explains different methods to make a hole in the wall to Tanner Frank during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach (left), firefighter Mike Behn (center) and firefighter Dustin Berning, use the aerial platform to get to the roof of a house during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the training focused on creating vents in the roof of a house, making a window into a door, and cutting through the floor to get access to the basement. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach (left), firefighter Mike Behn (center) and firefighter Dustin Berning, use the aerial platform to get to the roof of a house during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the training focused on creating vents in the roof of a house, making a window into a door, and cutting through the floor to get access to the basement. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Dustin Berning (right) and Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach (center) hand Mike Behn a chainsaw to cut a vent into the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Marion firefighter Bill Thomas said crews can use the vents to control the spread of a fire by cutting a hole above the flames, which can prevent the fire from spreading. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Dustin Berning (right) and Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach (center) hand Mike Behn a chain saw to cut a vent into the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Marion firefighter Bill Thomas said crews can use the vents to control the spread of a fire by cutting a hole above the flames, which can prevent the fire from spreading. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Bill Thomas and Tanner Frank gets briefed on the “swimming” method to crawl through a hole in the wall during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. The “swimming“ method uses movements similar to a backstroke to help firefighters move through small spaces with their gear. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Bill Thomas and Tanner Frank gets briefed on the “swimming” method to crawl through a hole in the wall during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. The “swimming“ method uses movements similar to a backstroke to help firefighters move through small spaces with their gear. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Tanner Frank tries the “swimming” method to crawl through a hole in the wall during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. The method uses movements similar to a backstroke to help firefighters move through small spaces with their gear. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Tanner Frank tries the “swimming” method to crawl through a hole in the wall during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. The method uses movements similar to a backstroke to help firefighters move through small spaces with their gear. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach instructs Mike Behn on where to cut a vent on the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said cutting a vent on the roof to remove heat, smoke, and gases. Doing this improves visibility inside the house and can control the spread of the fire. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion Fire Cpt. Tyler Manternach instructs Mike Behn on where to cut a vent on the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said cutting a vent on the roof to remove heat, smoke, and gases. Doing this improves visibility inside the house and can control the spread of the fire. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Thaddeus Williams and Fire Captain David Gilchrist watch crew members finish cutting a vent into the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the fire crews also ran drills on running hoses through the house. “It’s making sure that they’re able to function and move through the house without issues,” McBurney said. “We’ve been doing that and some flow and go, where they actually sprayed water inside the house and worked on applying water as they’re moving through the house.”(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Thaddeus Williams and Fire Captain David Gilchrist watch crew members finish cutting a vent into the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the fire crews also ran drills on running hoses through the house. “It’s making sure that they’re able to function and move through the house without issues,” McBurney said. “We’ve been doing that and some flow and go, where they actually sprayed water inside the house and worked on applying water as they’re moving through the house.“ (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
A Marion Fire Department crew member’s badge during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday.(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
A Marion Fire Department crew member’s badge during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist talks to crew members about creating access to the basement in old houses during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist also briefed crew members on gas line safety, since they had to cut around the house’s gas line to make the window into a door. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist talks to crew members about creating access to the basement in old houses during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist also briefed crew members on gas line safety, since they had to cut around the house’s gas line to make the window into a door. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Alex Gragg and Jeff Madland get a saw ready for crew members on the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Throughout training, the fire crews used different tools to cut through the roof to see how each tool reacted to the material. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Alex Gragg and Jeff Madland get a saw ready for crew members on the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Throughout training, the fire crews used different tools to cut through the roof to see how each tool reacted to the material. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Bill Thomas breaks a window during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the fire department gets about four houses donated by community members to train with throughout the year. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Bill Thomas breaks a window during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said the fire department gets about four houses donated by community members to train with throughout the year. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Bill Thomas (far left), Ryan Pfiffner (left), Alex Gragg (center, left), Thad Williams (center, right), Tanner Frank (right) and Fire Captain David Gilchrist watch as crew members finish making a vent in the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said they are thankful to the property owners for the opportunity to train in a realistic setting. “It’s the ability to come here and cut on a different style roof,” McBurney said. “Our training props that we have in our training facility are going to have a fairly straightforward roof, but this one has wood shingles, and I think there are parts of it that have asphalt shingles. In a realistic situation, we run into all kinds of different layers on the roof.”(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighters Bill Thomas (far left), Ryan Pfiffner (left), Alex Gragg (center, left), Thad Williams (center, right), Tanner Frank (right) and Fire Captain David Gilchrist watch as crew members finish making a vent in the roof during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Training Chief Kale McBurney said they are thankful to the property owners for the opportunity to train in a realistic setting. “It’s the ability to come here and cut on a different style roof,” McBurney said. “Our training props that we have in our training facility are going to have a fairly straightforward roof, but this one has wood shingles, and I think there are parts of it that have asphalt shingles. In a realistic situation, we run into all kinds of different layers on the roof.“ (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Bill Thomas and Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist cut through the floor to get access to the basement during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained that the method can be used to rescue someone who is stuck in the basement of a house fire. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Marion firefighter Bill Thomas and Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist cut through the floor to get access to the basement during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained that the method can be used to rescue someone who is stuck in the basement of a house fire. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist discusses making a window into a door with crew members during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained to crew members that making a window into a door involves breaking a window, cutting down the sides of a window to the floor and removing parts of the wall to create an easier escape during a fire.(Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)
Fire Cpt. David Gilchrist discusses making a window into a door with crew members during fire training on Blairs Ferry Road in Marion on Thursday. Gilchrist explained to crew members that making a window into a door involves breaking a window, cutting down the sides of a window to the floor and removing parts of the wall to create an easier escape during a fire. (Elizabeth Wood/The Gazette)

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Article Tags Marion, Marion Fire Department
Date Time Location Previous Next chevron-circle-right Funeral Home Facebook Bluesky X/ Twitter Linkedin Youtube Instagram Tiktok Reddit Email Print Buy RSS Feed Opens in new tab or window PDF
Daily NewslettersDaily Newsletters

Share this article: