Invaluable experience: Porter Fire Department undergoes training at empty Kingwood apartment complex

Smoke billowed out of the second story apartment as Porter Fire Department firefighters rushed to determine the location of the fire.

Thankfully this fire would have no victims, no property loss for a resident or any real damage as the Porter firefighters were taking part in a training exercise at the now-abandoned Kings Crossing Apartments complex in Kingwood.

For two days, the Porter Fire Department was allowed access to the Kings Crossing Apartment complex to allow for their firefighters to train and learn better techniques to fight fires in apartments and similar residences.

The developers, Main Street Kingwood, who are working to remove utilities and appliances from the apartment complex which closed down Jan. 31, 2015, invited the Porter Fire Department to use some of their units for training.

We were aware of the Main Street project through newspaper, Porter Fire Chief Carter Johnson said onsite. We made a few phone calls to the developer to explain how this would provide a unique opportunity for firefighters to gain experience on building construction and how apartment complexes are laid out.

If these apartments were already going to be torn down, these gives us the chance to do everything we would do if we were actually fighting a real fire such as cutting vent holes in the roofs or ceilings.

They used a smoke machine in one of the apartment units to simulate what it would be like for the firefighters to enter an apartment that was on fire.

Porter Fire Department firefighters also had the chance to undergo similar training at First Baptist Church Porter in a portion of their building that was set to be destroyed due to a recent fire.

According to Johnson, some apartment complexes, especially older complexes, have a common attic that is open from one end of the roof to the other which gives the fire places to spread.

The key is that we have to get up there fast to isolate the fire, Johnson said. This kind of training truly gives the firefighters a perspective that we cant simulate in a burn building. We are doing everything in this training with the exception of lighting the building on fire.

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Invaluable experience: Porter Fire Department undergoes training at empty Kingwood apartment complex