By Susan Weich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. PETERS, Mo. — Construction will begin this fall on a multimillion dollar training facility where firefighters can practice fire maneuvers and risky rescues.
"There's a lot of excitement throughout all the departments about having a facility like this, the first in our county," said Dan Rigdon, the assistant chief for Central County Fire and Rescue. He is in charge of training for the district.
Plans call for a five-story burn tower, where firefighters will deploy water lines up a stairwell and chop holes in a roof that comes with replaceable sections.
Attached to the tower will be a two-story "house" and a one-story annex. Both will feature rooms where firefighters will battle blazes that come as close to the real thing as possible. Straw will fuel the fires, letting trainees feel and see the heat as well as smell the smoke they experience on the job.
The key difference is that this fire is burning in stainless steel containers, preventing it from spreading, and the structure's walls are fire resistant.
The site will be built in phases as funding becomes available. Plans include:
- A building that simulates a flashover, a dangerous buildup of heat that causes everything in a room to ignite at once.
- A covered pavilion with restrooms.
- A four-story unit of shipping containers that can be changed into dozens of configurations to simulate high-angle and other rescues.
- Classrooms that could eventually house the county's fire academy.
While the facility is being built with the 66 firefighters employed by Central County in mind, the district plans to share it with other firefighters, who regularly assist Central County on fire calls.
"This is something that's going to benefit not only the firefighters of Central County but the firefighters of St. Charles County, St. Louis County - the whole region," Rigdon said.
In addition, the center may be used to host area seminars in exchange for Central County firefighters getting the training for free.
Work on the first phase of the project will be paid for with $2 million of a $12 million dollar bond issue approved by taxpayers in 2001.
The fire district already used approximately $1 million in bond money in 2002 to buy the 10.3-acre site at Mid Rivers Mall and Ecology drives.
The district is exploring corporate partnerships to fund future phases of construction.
"We really feel there's a need in this region for a permanent training facility of this magnitude," Rigdon said. "And I'm absolutely ecstatic at the opportunity."
The facility should be open by the end of next summer.
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