Crews from several area departments spent two weeks practicing firefighting techniques inside the vacant Sea Island Apartments
By Delayna Earley and Amber Hewitt
The Island News
Before the old Sea Island Apartments disappear from Ribaut Road, local firefighters are getting one last use out of the nearly 80-year-old buildings.
For about two weeks, firefighters from departments across northern Beaufort County have been using the vacant Port Royal apartment complex for hands-on training ahead of its demolition, giving crews a rare opportunity to practice skills that can be difficult to recreate at a fire station or training facility.
The nine one-story brick buildings at 1844 Ribaut Road date to 1948 and are being demolished to make way for a new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic.
But before the buildings come down, firefighters have been allowed inside for what is known as acquired structure training.
“Acquired structure training gives our firefighters a great opportunity to utilize buildings they’re not familiar with,” City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department Deputy Chief Peter Dontje said.
The term refers to using an existing building, often one already scheduled for demolition, for firefighter training.
“It gives them something new, a new building to practice their skills and hone their craft,” Dontje said.
Because the apartments are destined for demolition, firefighters can do things they normally cannot do to an occupied or usable building during training, including breaking windows, forcing entry and cutting through roofs.
Fire Chief Tim Ogden said the department was able to work with the contractor to secure access to the buildings.
“We were lucky to work out the details with the contractor to be able to utilize these buildings before they get demolished for some fire training,” Ogden said.
Opportunities like this do not come along often.
“It’s not always common for us to be able to do some of those things we can do in a building that’s gonna be demolished unless it’s live, like doing it during real time,” Ogden said.
Instead, the apartments provide a controlled environment where firefighters can repeatedly practice techniques they may eventually have to perform during an actual emergency.
“They’re able to practice all kinds of different tactics,” Dontje said, “and it’s just invaluable training to our firefighters.”
Unfamiliar buildings, real-world skills
Wes Carter, battalion chief of training for the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department, said crews have been practicing hose management inside apartments with layouts different from the buildings where they normally train.
“It’s different layouts than what our training buildings are,” Carter said. “It allows us different aspects and different avenues for managing hose and working buildings with fire streams.”
Other crews headed to the roofs to practice vertical ventilation, a technique in which firefighters cut openings through the roof to help improve conditions inside a burning building for crews operating hose lines.
Carter said firefighters practiced making the openings with several tools, including ventilation saws, chainsaws and rotary saws.
They also practiced doing it manually.
“If those fail, then they can always use the back end of a flathead axe to go through that,” Carter said.
Another group practiced vent-enter-search, or VES, a technique that can be used when firefighters know or suspect someone is trapped inside a particular room.
Firefighters break out a window, clear the opening and enter the room. They then move to the interior door and close it, isolating themselves and anyone trapped inside from fire and smoke elsewhere in the building.
“They take the window by smashing it out, clear the window out, make entry into the room,” Carter said.
Firefighters can then search the isolated room and work to get anyone trapped inside out of the building and into the hands of emergency medical personnel.
Training alongside neighboring departments
Firefighters from neighboring agencies have also been able to use the apartments, allowing departments that regularly respond to emergencies together to train alongside one another.
“We’re able to do some of the training techniques that our firefighters need to do on a regular basis with other fire departments in the area,” Ogden said.
Firefighters from City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal, Lady’s Island/St. Helena Island, Burton, Fripp Island, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort were among those able to participate in the training.
Having the buildings available for about two weeks allowed departments to stagger their training sessions and bring different crews through the property.
There was another reason to spread the training out: August in the Lowcountry.
“It’s unfortunately the hottest time of the year for us to be able to do this,” Ogden said.
Crews were able to train early in the morning and later in the evening to avoid some of the worst heat of the day.
Nearly 80-year-old apartments making way for VA clinic
The training marks one of the final chapters for an apartment complex that has been part of the Ribaut Road landscape for nearly eight decades.
The property is being cleared for a new community-based outpatient clinic that will be operated by the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System.
VM Port Royal LLC purchased three parcels totaling about 11 acres for the project, including approximately eight acres occupied by the apartments.
The developer purchased the apartment property from 303 Associates for $5.5 million in April, according to Beaufort County property records.
Plans call for an approximately $30 million clinic that will replace the existing Department of Veterans Affairs clinic located at Naval Hospital Beaufort.
VM Port Royal LLC will build the facility for the VA, which will then lease the clinic. Ryan Construction is the general contractor.
The Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System announced plans for the Port Royal community-based outpatient clinic in January.
Construction had previously been expected to begin this summer, but the developer was still working through the permitting process ahead of demolition and construction.
The demolition will bring the firefighters’ two-week training period to an end as the property is cleared for the new clinic.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
