Central Mat-Su Fire training

Members of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department perform various drills at the former site of Pioneer Square mall in Palmer. Agencies will continue to use the large, currently vacant building for numerous drills relating to emergency services through the end of August. In addition to Central, the Palmer Fire Department will participate, as well as Alaska State Troopers and Wasilla Police Department, who used the building for explosive entry training. Palmer officials don’t yet know when the former Pioneer Plaza site will be demolished to make way for a new Fred Meyer. Drills practiced include: search-and-rescue, hose deployment, ladder roof training, forcible entry, and wall breach. The procedure is similar to drills practiced at the former Cottonwood Creek Mall in Wasilla prior to its demolition.