Fire Near School Was Training Exercise

by Haleigh Freeman

MULDROW, Okla. – Smoke filled the sky as students at Muldrow Elementary began to leave the building.  Across the street, the students watched as a home burned and firefighters went to work to douse the flames.

Not 50 yards away from the school, a vacant home owned by the elementary school was set ablaze. Firetrucks and a throng of firefighters clustered around the burning home.

No one was in the house when the fire started, firefighters said and the fire was intentionally set.  In fact, it was the firefighters who started the fire.

The house sits on a small lot owned by the Muldrow School District. It has been abandoned for some time so the school donated the structure to the fire department to be used for training purposes.

A few days before the fire, workers removed the shingles of the home and cut up old wood so it would burn easier.

Academy trainees from the Fort Smith Fire Department in Arkansas joined a volunteer from the Muldrow department for the training fire.

The fire lasted well into the evening and gathered more than just trainees.  Many members of the Muldrow community gathered to watch the flames and the firefighters at work.

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