Burning Buildings for Training

You can request to donate a building so that Mills River Fire Department can conduct training exercises. The following is information that we would like to share with you concerning this training exercise.

• Upon receipt of this request, Mills River Fire Department will meet with you to survey the property. This will include a survey of the structure to evaluate the training relevance that the property will provide. We will only be able to burn the structure if it has training value to the Department. We will also look for any adjacent structures, trees, or other items of value that are in close proximity to the structure. If it is determined that we cannot safely burn the building without endangering any other property, we will not be able to burn the structure.
• An asbestos inspection will need to be performed on structures to determine if asbestos is on the property. This inspection will be at the cost of the property owner. Asbestos inspections typically do not exceed $300. For your convenience, we have listed contact numbers for local official asbestos inspectors:
  
   

• Alpha Environmental Sciences, Inc.
  Rusty Turner
  (828) 452-3449

NEO Corporation
Jody Ferguson
1-800-822-1247

• If asbestos is found, State requirements will not allow us to burn the building until it is removed. This removal will be at the cost of the property owner. Please note that air quality requirements mandate that asbestos be removed regardless if a building is burned or demolished.
• We will notify neighboring property owners of the planned exercise. This is to inform them of what will happen when we burn the building and answer any questions or concerns that they may have (ex: smoke produced, traffic, noise, etc.)
• The training will consist of lighting fires inside the structure and crews entering and extinguishing the fires. This is done multiple times and then the structure will be allowed to be totally consumed.

• There will be building materials remaining after the training exercise is over. These may include masonry walls, metal roofing, foundation components, chimneys, and any other non-combustible building material.
  
  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions and thank you very much for this kind opportunity for training for the Mills River Fire Department.