Old Buildings at Fairgrounds will be Used for Fire Training

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - This week, Salem firefighters will burn three food booths at the Oregon State Fair Grounds. These buidlings have exceeded their original 20-year lifespan and would cost upwards of a million dollars to fully repair, according to fair officials.

Rand Breitbach of Salem Fire Training, says the Salem firefighters will be performing training fires on these buildings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between the hours of 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

Organizers of the special firefighter training say these fires will have a minimal affect on traffic.

Training exercises that involve real fires set in actual buildings give firefighters an edge that they can not necessarily gain in standard practice training, fire officials say.