CLINTON, Utah — An old Clinton home with years of family history went up in flames Monday morning, but the fire was no accident.
The Clinton Fire Department used the vacant home, known by neighbors as the Patterson House, for live-fire training, giving firefighters a rare opportunity to practice their skills in a real residential structure.
Property owner Jack Patterson said his brother once lived in the home, which had sat empty for some time.
“I grew up in the sticks, growing up, that’s what they said,” Patterson said. “A lot of good people. A lot of good people have been around for many years.”
While an empty old home might inspire a few ghost stories, Patterson joked there was nothing supernatural about the property.
“It’s not haunted,” he said. “The only thing that makes any noise is the kids goofing off in there.”
Over the years, the home became a target of vandalism and break-ins, leaving Patterson ready to move on. That created an opportunity for the city’s firefighters, with the spark coming about nine months ago.
“We said, 'Hey, if the fire department can use it for training, we’d love to,'” Clinton Fire Chief Jason Poulson said. “And in return, we’ll burn it down and make it easy for your removal.”
The arrangement allowed firefighters to conduct live-fire evolutions inside the home before it was ultimately burned down. Chief Poulson said that training included search and rescue, roof operations, fire ventilation, and more.
The experience is especially valuable for a younger department because opportunities to train in realistic fire conditions aren’t common.
“The training is really critical because you don’t get all of these live fire evolutions often,” Poulson said. “So for a new department and younger people, it’s really good to have exposure to this kind of training.”
Poulson hopes the experience can help firefighters when they respond to an actual emergency.
“All this does for us and for them is helps us on the real call,” he said.
After hours of fire training came the cleanup, which Patterson tackled with heavy equipment.
“It’s just like relaxing to me. I enjoy it. Always have,” Patterson said. “I enjoy working. They look at me like I’m crazy.”
Patterson isn’t sure what will come next for the property. But as Clinton continues to change and grow, he was happy to see an old family home serve one final purpose by helping prepare firefighters for their next real call.