Thursday, Dec. 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
It may be out of business and awaiting inevitable implosion, but for local firefighters the Hacienda hotel-casino is currently the hottest commodity in town.
Its stairwells, stripped interior and 15 floors of hotel rooms offer endless possibilities for staging high-rise disasters.
And with permission from the building's owners, more than 30 firefighters got the chance Wednesday night to race through the first of what they hope will be a few mock training drills before the aged structure is destroyed Dec. 31.
The 7 p.m. scenario saw crews arriving to imagined flames showing from a fifth floor hotel room. The goal was to test team leaders' abilities at establishing control over their subordinates during what in real-life could easily become a hair-raising nightmare.
"A high-rise fire can be extremely complicated," said Battalion Chief Robert Taylor. "You're dealing with lots of people, life hazards, property loss issues. What we're trying to do is take a complicated issue and break it down into little bits."
Running the drill at night was a special ingredient to the puzzle -- a lack of lights in the building and on the grounds made clear, effective communication over walkie-talkies vital.
"During the day, you can see what everyone is doing," Taylor said. "At night, you have to count on proper communication techniques. You don't have that visibility."
Decked out in their standard 50 pounds of fire-proof clothing and air tanks, firefighters established a staging area for personnel and extra equipment on the third floor while other teams attacked the imaginary fire on the fifth floor. Once put out, backup searched the building for victims. One firefighter pretended to have suffered glass cuts, allowing a medical team to take part.
The group assembled in the parking lot at drill's end to review what worked and areas for improvement.
"Everyone knows what their job is and how to do it," said Capt. Jim Perkins. "What we're trying to do with this drill is work on the command structure. You've got a lot of firefighters on a high-rise fire, and a lot of resources. You need to know where everyone is and what they're doing so that no one gets lost or killed."
If permission is granted, firefighters hope to run another drill at the Hacienda to test their abilities at handling search and rescue problems in the event of a building collapse, Perkins said.
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