Shown is the new fire training center for the Turkey Creek Fire Territory. Located behind Station II, the center includes a concrete pad, shown in front, for aerial truck training. The training facility itself contains two burn rooms along with a vertical vent shaft, located on the slanted roof, for roof venting training. Photo by Lauren Zeugner.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE —  There is now a new fire-training facility for the northern part of Kosciusko County. Fire Chief Mickey Scott explained Warsaw has a fire training facility open to other departments; however, having an entire shift of firefighters in Warsaw ran a huge risk of leaving the fire territory unprotected if an emergency occurred.

Scott started working on acquiring the land for the training facility, which is located behind Station II, about five years ago. Once the land was donated, he started working with the area planning office as to what would be needed regarding permits and zoning.

WHP Towers, a company that specifically builds fire-training facilities, was hired to build the facility.

“They travel all over doing this,” Scott said, explaining the WHP Towers team headed for Los Angeles, Calif., when they were done in Syracuse.

The two-story training facility provides firefighters with a wide range of training scenarios. Some of the amenities it has includes a smoke machine to provide a realistic training situation.

“You can’t see your hand in front of your face,” Scott said.

The structure also has two “burn” rooms, one located on the first floor and the second on the second floor.

These are ceramic-lined rooms that had to be seasoned before they could be used. Scott explained the rooms have thermometers on the ceiling and walls so firefighters know exactly how hot the fire is burning.

“We can actually control what’s going on in the structure,” Scott said.

On the north side of the structure, the roof slants offering vertical vent strings, which are used to teach firefighters how to properly vent a roof during a fire. The section used for venting is replaceable so each firefighter can take a turn.

Inside the structure, trainers can set up a maze that can be changed so firefighters can train in maneuvering through various types of structures. There is even a spot where the floor will come out from under the firefighter if he or she isn’t properly checking the floor’s stability. Scott explained firefighters are trained to do this so they don’t have a floor collapse beneath them potentially trapping them in a basement or them ending up seriously injured in a structure fire.

Other training tools include connections for sprinklers and stand pipes, flat-roof access on the top of the structure, and the ability to train for high angle rescues with ropes.

There is also a concrete pad the fire territory can put its aerial on to train firefighters on how to use the aerial when fighting a fire.

The fire territory also worked with NIPSCO on a three-phase electric system for the pump. The training center has a well pump that can draft water from the lake and lake hydrants.

“We’re trying to simulate everything we could think of,” Scott said.

Kim VanLue donated the land for the training facility. Her dad, Paul Beasley, donated the land Station II sits on. Scott said in the early stages of making the training facility a reality, Scott and Deputy Chief Hunter Quinn made a point to visit all the neighbors and explain what was going on. Scott explained they wanted the neighbors to be aware since they would be seeing smoke around the station and “it will smell like a smoker.”

Scott said the training facility is a necessity as the department was losing members due to a lack of training. So the focus is to provide more firefighter training.

Future plans for the facility include setting up a grain bin rescue simulation and working with Wawasee High School on a firefighter CTE program.

“I think if we can get that CTE program there that would be really successful,” Scott said.

Currently, Wawasee students interested in firefighting as a career must travel to Columbia City or Goshen to participate in their CTE program. Scott said this is less than ideal as parents don’t want their children traveling that far in the winter and the lengthy drive time cuts into the actual training the CTE program is supposed to provide.

Scott said the next generation of firefighters will be coming from high school students and a CTE program will at least allow them to explore whether its something they want to pursue as a career.

“For the future of the department, it’s a huge step forward,” Scott said. “It’s a major step forward in the right direction. I’m glad to see that completed … It’s going to open up avenues for us.”

The training facility will be available for other departments in the area to use as well.