The Wayne County Fire & Rescue Association has raised $2.1 million (including outstanding pledges) of its $2.7 million capital campaign to build a new educational institute and a driving course at the training facility off Millbourne Road. The WCFRA also is constructing a second driveway into the facility that will become the new entrance.
"Public safety is something that's available for everyone's use. Nobody ever plans on needing those services but when they do, they expect them to show up. When they show up, they expect them to know how to take care of the problem and fix it. This is where they learn how to do that," said Dallas Terrell, director of the regional training facility.
Updates to the facility are taking place in multiple phases. In June 2018, the WCFRA unveiled its new Kirila Fire Burn Building to replace its previous burn building which no longer met current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards.
"We have had the opportunity to utilize the new burn building and the design and functionality of the structure are very impressive," said Jim Zimmerman, fire chief for Apple Creek Volunteer Fire Department. "The versatility it provides will allow us to create countless training scenarios in a controlled environment to better prepare ourselves for real-life emergencies."
The new classroom space has an estimated completion date of May 2020, according to project manager Mike Nobel of Freeman Building Systems. The remaining campaign funds are needed to pay for the 3,300 yards of concrete to build the driving course.
The facility currently has the necessary space to conduct Emergency Vehicle Drivers Training, a requirement for firefighter certification, but it does not have the required hard surface to bear the weight of fire trucks. The driving course also can be used by other law enforcement agencies and for bus driver training including charter and school buses.
Dirt needed to build the driving course and a new entrance into the facility is coming from digging a new pond that will serve as a water rescue training site. The facility is working with an instructor from Dive Rescue International on different training props and different activities that can be executed in the pond.
Platforms will be placed at different levels to train in different scuba skills. Several vehicles such as cars and boats will be placed on the bottom of the pond to practice rescuing trapped passengers and using underwater airbags to float the vehicles back to the surface to assist tow truck companies.
The pond will measure 300 feet long, 100 feet wide and 24 feet deep. Seaman Corp. is donating the materials to install a liner in the pond to keep the water clear so the instructor can see the students during training. Employees from Seaman will volunteer in their off time to complete the project early next month.
"Everywhere you dive in Wayne County, it's black water. Every time we dive, we can't see," Terrell said.
The new educational institute would house four classrooms, an auditorium, four offices, a computer lab, a warming kitchen and restrooms. One of the two existing classrooms on site will be maintained. A large garage on the south side of the facility will be refurbished to station the seven on-site apparatuses that are used for training operations.
To make a donation to the capital campaign, gifts can be made to the CHIEF Campaign Fund at the Wayne County Community Foundation, 517 N. Market St., Wooster, Ohio, 44691. If anyone would like a tour of the facility, Terrell can be reached at 330-600-9708.
"I have previously had the opportunity to spend some time at Louisiana State University's Fire and Emergency Training Institute. While LSU's facility is supported through a major university and is very impressive, I can assure you, it is no more impressive than what is going on at the WCRTF," Zimmerman said. "We are blessed beyond measure to have such an amazing resource in our backyard."
Construction of the Grain Bin Safety project, sponsored by the Ohio Farm Bureau in Ashland, Medina, Wayne and Summit counties, also is reaching its completion. The $200,000 project is being done entirely with donated labor, materials and funds.
The project includes a 60-foot grain leg with augers, a 7,500-bushel grain bin and a 15-foot hopper bin, which will have an open roof for grain entrapment rescue training exercises. A balcony will be built around the hopper so training class members can observe the training instruction and a steel-framed building be constructed around the bin so training can take place in all weather conditions.
The Grain Bin Safety project will provide training for three different audiences: first responders, an awareness class for the farming community and employees in the agricultural industry. Local farmers have agreed to provide the grain materials to use in the bin while training. The project should be completed by summer 2020.
"If we give [the farmers] enough notice, we can train in one type of material in the morning and they can come in and switch it all out, and we can train in a different material in the afternoon," Terrell said.
— Reporter Emily Morgan can be reached at 330-287-1632 or emorgan@the-daily-record.com.
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