Bird Key Yacht Club gets a head start with its remodel

Bird Key Yacht Club's 65-year-old clubhouse is now sitting empty, but it is far from inactive. In fact, the soon-to-be-demolished facility provided a valuable training venue for first responders last week, who took the opportunity to turn the vacated building into the center of explosive training.

The club invited Sarasota Police Department demolition experts to use the space for explosive entry training on Sept. 5.

When a large-scale emergency happens, first responders may need to get officers inside a building when time is of the essence. In those instances, they may turn to explosives to get through the main doors.

Sgts. Dustin Luciano, team leader, and Aaron Stoll, lead breacher, led the demolition team that morning in conducting a series of controlled explosions, each larger than the last.

Stoll explained officers will typically default to mechanical means of entry, physically breaking through doors. However, they will tactically use explosives when they quickly need to get officers onto the scene.

Those measures can sound drastic, but after the team detonated the first charge attached to a set of glass French doors, Stoll showed the meticulously calibrated explosion opened the lock without even breaking the glass.

Luciano said it was valuable to test out their techniques in a unique environment with an atypical set of doors.

"On an in-swing door, we have different sizes of charges we may use," he said. "What's important to us is to be exposed to multiple entry points and types of doors so we have the statistics guiding us and we can successfully get in the doors during an operation."

Experts need to strike a balance between using the least amount of explosive power possible in the interest of safety, while also having enough power to gain access in an emergency.

Luciano shared his appreciation for the Sarasota venues that have lent their space for such trainings, especially when it provides an opportunity to collaborate with fellow forces like the local fire departments.

The training even extended to the SPD K-9 unit, with Officer Adam Bearden taking the chance to get K-9 Officer Butch familiar with a detonation scene. His robust barks could be heard throughout the empty halls with the final countdown.

Bird Key Yacht Club General Manager Tammy Hackney said she was glad to offer the space for training ahead of the demolition slated for the end of September.

Hackney said she initially spoke with SPD officer Helios Blanco, who suggested the collaboration.

"Pretty soon after, I got a call from Sgt. Luciano, and we set everything up," she said. "We were delighted to do so, because there is no better way to give this building back to the community."