The "burn house" is used by the Garden City, MO Fire Protection District to train volunteer firefighters.
The "hookers" - Selina (Carolyn S. Lang) and Sharpay (Tasha Smith) - are wearing pink handcuffs. These are really used by the Kansas City Police Department, and they're pink to prevent them from being stolen.
The idea came after director Jason Hunt read an interview with cinematographer Bob Scott (Fireproof) in the November issue of Student Filmmakers magazine.
In the scene when Maureen (Kimberly O'Dell) hits Jack (Timothy B. Rowe) with a shovel: no contact was made. The effect is achieved through careful timing, camera angle, and sound effects. The actual "hit" is a combination of sounds: Kim O'Dell vocalizing, a shovel hitting a wet pumpkin, and the shovel hitting the ground (which produced the clang).