April 25 – A vacant and soon to be demolished building in downtown Virginia provided an excellent training opportunity for Virginia firefighters. The department was able to use the building for practicing a number of operations. According to Virginia Battalion Chief Kevin Poffs, three main goals were accomplished including: building construction, vertical ventilation, and aerial ladder operations. The former Range Music building was also used by the fire department for other training activities like search and rescue. “We certainly took advantage of the building in order to sharpen our skills,” said Poffs.
