Guard Street closed on Saturday for live fire training

San Juan Island Fire & Rescue sends along an important note about live fire training taking place in town on Saturday.

On Saturday, March 26, Guard Street in the town of Friday Harbor will be closed to all traffic (except for adjacent residents) between Tucker Avenue and Marguerite Street from 8:30 am until 5:30 p.m. for a live fire training for fire and rescue crews from San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Islands.

The live fire training will be conducted at a residential structure in a controlled safety burn. This burn will be used for the islands’ fire academy, hosted by San Juan Island Fire & Rescue. Additionally, the residential structure will be used for trained firefighters from the three departments to accomplish state mandated live fire training.

During the weekend, smoke will be clearly visible at different times. The structure has had all hazardous materials removed, and has been examined and cleared through onsite safety inspections, allowing the scheduled training to proceed.

Please respect the established safety zones around the fire training area and do not attempt to walk onto the site. All fire scenes are dangerous due to loud noise, moving vehicles and equipment, as well as smoke. One sidewalk on Guard Street will be open, but subject to temporary closures depending on weather conditions impacting smoke drift.

We appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation during this important training. Live fire training at this structure saves all three agencies significant money by allowing crews to accomplish state mandated training and skills without travel to the state fire training facility in North Bend.

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