Building ignited in Colorado as Warren Tech students participate in simulated fire investigation project

A crowd of students gathered outside of Warren Tech North in Lakewood on Monday for a project that brought together young Coloradans from different classes. Much of their classroom learning led to this moment.

"That was a big part to be able to first learn it in the classroom and figure out what we were going to do, then go out and apply it," said senior Jesse Jerome.

Warren Tech is a career and technical educational center open to juniors or seniors in Jefferson County high schools. In Monday morning's demonstration, students from fire sciences, building trades, criminal justice and forensic science all came together to work in tandem.

The trades students built a mockup of a room of a house. A pig cadaver was placed in the room to simulate a dead body. The room was supposed to be made up to look like an arson had occurred. And then they lit it on fire.

First up were the fire sciences students, of which Jerome is one. Under the supervision of South Metro Fire Rescue crews, they put out the blaze.

"It's honestly really crazy," Jerome said after fighting his first ever fire. "You're feeling it on your mask more than anything."

Then came the forensic science students like Elizabeth Edone. Another senior, she spent last year in the criminal justice path and was familiar with this project. This time, she was sketching out the crime scene while other students conducted interviews with simulated witnesses. Eventually, the other forensic science students arrived as coroners, finding the body of the pig cadaver and doing an autopsy.

"It's really helpful if you want to pursue it in college," said Edone. "It makes it easier for you to know what's going on already and for you to get extra practice."

Afton Nance, the forensic science teacher at Warren Tech, launched this project nine years ago. Since then it has grown into a substantially more immersive experience with everyone from fire departments to the Boulder County Coroner's Office to advise and support.

"We do a lot of work-based learning," Nance added. "That's what this is. Most of our industry professionals would tell you that they have to pay thousands of dollars to get a training like this."

For students like Jerome, it reaffirms his belief that this career path is right for him.

"I absolutely fell in love with firefighting and all of this," he said. "I really want to pursue it and it's just so much fun and is really cool."

Edone described the multitude of other benefits the program provides. These types of projects can lead to certificates or college credits. They also create a pipeline not just for one student, but multiple. After high school or college, a Warren Tech student might be out on assignment and could potentially see a fellow former classmate there.

"I think it's really cool to see them in the future and see us in the future and what we're going to do with it," Edone said.