Special house to pose challenges.

Byline: SUSAN PALMER The Register-Guard

Firefighters are going to love hating this house.

Some of its interior walls lack fire breaks, allowing flames to snake secretly from basement to ceiling. Some of its roof pitches are too steep to climb. The garage is detached but so close to the house that you can't set up a ladder between the two.

Retired fire Chief Phil Prince actually planned it this way. When it's finished, the structure on the back lot of the Whiteaker Fire Station will be used to train firefighters, paramedics and police officers in simulated fires and rescues.

It won't ever be set ablaze, but it will be filled with smoke to confuse the crews.

There will be plenty of ways to confuse them, Prince said. The walls are all movable, allowing several room configurations. Even the stairway to the second floor can be shifted.

"The interior itself will be a maze," he said.

The walls are attached to the studs with screws so they can be removed to show firefighters the framing common in many older area homes that lets fire move unobstructed and unobserved in the walls.

The training house is being constructed by trainees, too: Groups of Lane Community College students have been working on the house under the guidance of instructor Leonard Keen for close to two years.

Prince coordinated the cooperative effort, which benefits the fire department by keeping costs down while providing students with valuable on-the-job experience.

Student Tim Loving said he expects the class will give him credibility with future employers.

"There's a steep learning curve, and no one else can afford to have you learn on the job," he said.

Keen, an instructor in LCC's advanced technologies department, said between 18 and 20 students spend Tuesday and Thursday at the construction site.

"Most of them love to be out in the field. They really do not like to sit in class and hear theory about what makes things work," he said.

His work-site ethic is pretty simple: "No. 1 is safety. No. 2, we have fun. No. 3, we learn carpentry and life skills," Keen said.

The training house has had broad community support, with businesses such as Willamette Graystone and Willamette Industries contributing material and architect Chuck Bailey helping the project pass muster with city planning officials, Keen said.

"We just got a lot of help from a lot of people," he said.

The house should be "substantially complete" by the end of winter term, he said.

It's just one in a series of firefighting training props that include an airplane fuselage and railroad tank car, and that keep firefighters prepared for airport accidents and hazardous materials duty, Prince said.

The house should be "substantially complete" by the end of winter term.

CAPTION(S):

MATT ANDERSON / The Register-Guard Kai Napohaku (left), Emma Kirk, Pete Furlong and Leonard Keen prepare to build a training house for emergency workers.