3 Firefighters Killed as Training Exercise Erupts Into ‘Flashover’

A training session for volunteer firefighters turned deadly Sunday, killing three volunteer firefighters and seriously burning a fourth as they tried to put out a controlled fire in an old farmhouse.

“It was like a bomb only you didn’t hear the explosion,” witness David Miller said.

The dead firefighters, two men and one woman, were trapped by a “flashover,” which occurs when hot gases and smoke ignite and sweep a wide area with flames, said Richard Cole, assistant Highland Township fire chief.

Century-Old Farmhouse

Six others were injured inside the century-old farmhouse.

“They came in and set up the fire situation. For want of a better word, (it was) a booby trap, where it goes off spontaneously and then they go in to put it out,” said Miller, who set up the deal between the Milford Fire Department and the owner of the building to use it for training.

“It happened after just a few seconds. As soon as it billowed with black smoke, everybody panicked. I heard people running and yelling and calling for more help,” he said.

Police Lt. Dale Mallett had said that he did not know the cause of the accident, but some witnesses said the second floor of the two-story farmhouse collapsed beneath the firefighters.

Used to Dry Hops

No one had used the building for at least seven years. It formerly was used to dry hops for beer in rural Oakland County, about 45 miles northwest of Detroit.

Mallett said the training session involved volunteer firefighters from Milford and from Highland, White Lake and Lyon townships.

Killed were Marsha Baczynski, 41, of Milford; Robert Gregory, 33, of Highland, and Thomas Phelps, 34, of New Hudson, said Anne Allen, spokeswoman for Huron Valley Hospital. She said all three were pronounced dead in the emergency room.

Mike Harrison, a spokesman for the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, said one firefighter, identified as Dale Wiltse, 32, was in serious condition in the hospital’s burn unit, while firefighter John Baczynski, husband of victim Marsha Baczynski, was in fair condition in the burn unit with smoke inhalation.

Two firefighters were treated for burns and released, Allen said.

Two other firefighters also were injured, Mallett said.