The Seattle Fire Department is conducting live-fire training exercises at vacant homes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood today through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 1000 block of E. Republican St. Live-fire training is an opportunity for new and veteran firefighters to work with our officers and face real fire scenarios in a controlled setting. In the past week, firefighters went door-to-door to notify neighboring homes and businesses of potential impact.
Seattle Fire conducts this training exercise in the city and makes every effort to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. Portions of the roads within one block of 1000 E. Republican St. will be closed to ensure the safety of the community as well as the firefighters in training. Water in the immediate area may turn brown due to sediment in the pipes. The water is likely to clear on its own within 2-8 hours.
SFD recognizes that this training exercise may present inconveniences to your daily schedules and thanks those in the immediate vicinity for their patience and understanding. Seattle firefighters are among the best in the nation because of the training provided and support received from the community.
Today, the department will have 4-6 fire evolutions spread throughout the day each lasting 15-20 minutes. Residents will see smoke as controlled burns are set inside the vacant apartment structure. All carpet, plastics and toxic synthetic materials have been removed along with required asbestos abatement. The training officers will set wood fires in a controlled method with safety officers on-hand during the exercises. This training is conducted under the strict regulations and rules of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The smoke coming from the buildings during the live-fire is equivalent to smoke from a fireplace. After the fires are out, most of what you see coming from the structure is steam.
Neighbors are welcome to come and watch the live-fire training. Typical training days begin around 7 a.m. with the live-fire evolutions starting at 9 a.m. and lasting until around 3 p.m. with a break from 12-12:30 p.m. Any questions can be directed to SFD’s public information officer at sfdpio@seattle.gov.