By Len Barcousky
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Firefighter Chris Crawford was asked yesterday whether battling the fire set in a former music building on the Geneva College campus was like fighting a real blaze.

He looked for a moment at the black smoke billowing from the attic windows and at the flames curling up around the second-story eaves.

"Like a real fire?" he said. "It is a real fire."

Mr. Crawford, a member of the Beaver Falls Fire Department, was one of about 35 volunteers and full-time firefighters who took part in the fiery demolition of two houses on the college campus.

The destruction of Old Headland, the music building, and Kessler House, a former student residence, served a dual purpose, said James Prince, Geneva's vice president for operations.

"Demolition through controlled burning" offered practice and training for firefighters from several local companies, he said.

Yesterday's emergency exercises also helped clear land for the college's $7.5 million "Beyond the Bend" renovation project.

Linked to PennDOT's realignment of state Route 18 away from the center of Geneva's campus, work at the college will include construction of a pedestrian walkway, additional parking and an arched entrance.

The result will be a safer, more attractive campus, Mr. Prince said.

Traffic on Route 18 through Beaver Falls travels on Fourth Avenue, then it shifts via an S-bend onto College, or Third, Avenue. The new Route 18 eliminates the S-bend.

"We've never had anyone killed, but we've had multiple accidents [along the current route]," he said.

The new Route 18 should be open in early November. Work on the pedestrian mall and main entrance should begin in the spring and be completed in time for football season next year.

Firefighters were glad to help the college out.

"This is the most realistic training you can get," Beaver Falls Fire Chief Mark Stowe said of yesterday's controlled burns. Members of his department were joined by volunteers from Patterson, Patterson Heights, White Township and West Mayfield companies for the state-certified session.

The two houses have been the site of several controlled burns over the past month, Chief Stowe said. Most of those exercises have been done at night.

Rookie Bernice Reed's job yesterday was to start smaller blazes for training sessions held earlier in the day. To make the situations more realistic, firefighters had to wait for periods equivalent to their travel time from their stations before starting to battle the blazes, she said.

Ms. Reed is a member of the White Township company.

"This is a very good way to get practice," Luke Sciulli said. "You learn to work as a team and you are using real tools."

A member of the Economy Volunteer Fire Department, he was training yesterday with Beaver Falls firefighters.

His colleagues soon demonstrated the importance of teamwork. Members of a mixed crew, representing several departments, strapped on oxygen tanks and fastened their face masks. Grabbing a hose, they carefully worked their way onto the first floor of the burning Old Headland.

"Putting water on a fire is easy," Mr. Sciulli said. "Getting it there is hard." 

Copyright 2007 P.G. Publishing Co.