As a key component of America’s first line of defense, today’s fire service faces many challenges. Since 9/11, fire departments across the country have had to shift their thinking and continuously train in specialty areas such as technical rescue and mass decontamination. As a result, many departments often get away from the area that should be among its primary focuses, structural firefighting training. One way to get back to the basics is to find and legally acquire abandoned buildings in your area that can be used for a variety of training evolutions.