Practice makes perfect and the training exercises of the East Lansing Fire Department create intense situations for its officers.
Along with Meridian Township, the firefighters went through real-life training simulations Wednesday afternoon at former Alpha Tau Omega, or ATO, houses, located at 243 and 237 Louis St.
The departments have an opportunity unlike any other. They are using a real fraternity house to simulate their training exercises.
The ATO house still contains the signature of its last residents - who moved out Monday - with pizza boxes, couches and paper plates strewn across the floor of the two-building residence.
Fraternity members are moving to a new house on Cowley Street in August, said Tom Dixon, ATO's former president.
The fire departments had the opportunity to use the house after reviewing the development plans of the apartments which will be built in its place, East Lansing Fire Marshal Bob Pratt said.
"We contacted the owners, and they were gracious enough to let us come in," Pratt said.
For most of their training exercises, the departments use a training site in Howell with a partner organization, East Lansing Fire Department Capt. Ken Lehto said.
This wasn't the first time the department has used buildings in East Lansing for its training exercises.
"We've burned a house on West Road and practiced extinguishing the fire," Pratt said. "But this isn't a good property to burn down."
However, the ATO house is good for simulating saving victims in hidden areas of a residence. Parts of the house had windows knocked out and floors with holes in them.
Three separate training exercises were conducted in the former fraternity house, including searching for victims when walls and floors are collapsed, when a house is structurally off and saving fellow officers or victims if they've fallen through a floor, Lehto said.
The fire agencies are using the houses for the rest of this week, Pratt said. The owners will demolish the site to make way for the new apartments by the first of June.
Until then, however, the heat is on for these firefighters.
"Three minutes to get out, or you're all dead!" shouted an officer at the scene.
The heavy panting of the firefighters increases as they use their axes to break through a wall.
"One minute and you guys will burn up!"
The three fire officers continued knocking at the wall, but the old plaster of the former ATO house makes it difficult for even the smallest fighter to climb through.
"It's burning you up!"
The three firefighters manage to climb through the hole into another room where they continue searching for the victim. A small clicking noise reverberates increasingly in the room from the officers air pack, informing them they are losing time.
The officers' air packs contain 4,400 pounds of air that can last up to 45 minutes, but in these conditions would last about 15 minutes, Lehto said.
"You got a guy losing air," shouts an officer watching the scene. "Are you going to search for the victim or get out!"
The firefighters located the 150-pound mock victim in a separate room, then lowered the victim's body out of the second-floor window and climbed head-first down a ladder to safety.
