ROCHELLE — Area firefighters had a unique opportunity to practice techniques on three downtown Rochelle properties late Thursday.
About 30 crews from the Rochelle Fire Department along with the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District consisting of Hillcrest, Flagg Center, Creston and Steward stations conducted training sessions in the 400 block of North Sixth Street. The three properties are slated for demolition sometime next month to make way for the new storage facility for Kennay Farms Distilling.
Tyler Carls, Training Officer for Rochelle and District Officer for the OLFPD, said the training consisted of three scenarios.

“We will have roof ventilation, a vent/enter/search where there might not be a primary entrance available or someone is trapped and needing rescue, and simulating when a firefighter would fall through a floor,” Carls explained. “We would use a hose line, send that down and pull someone out.”
Carls said the training session is meant to simulate a box alarm.
The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department and SWAT teams will also be conducting training sessions on the property.
“We are thankful for the Kennay Family allowing us to use these properties for our training,” Carls said. “We have held training at the old Lincoln School before they donated it to the theater group. It’s a cooperative public safety effort and it’s made for a great training location.”