The Clinton Fire Department this summer received about 17,000 pounds of steel plates donated by SSAB, of Blue Grass. The steel was transported by Wendling Quarries to CFD's training site, where it will be used to complete towers recently added to the grounds.
"It'll be one of a kind when it's done," Assistant Chief Greg Forari says of the configuration of steel towers that sits at the center of the site. Their installation and the addition of the concrete on which they sit compose the project that began two years ago.
The "fire engine red" steel towers reach up to 40 feet high and are placed together in such a way as to resemble the layout of a split-foyer house. After the three-quarter-inch thick steel plates have been used to line one side of the two tallest towers, the fire department will then be able to use them for performing high-angle, rope-rescue training and search-and-rescue tactics.
The training site itself is a 4-acre area between two of the buildings through which 22,000 wounded World War II soldiers made their way into what was then known as Schick Hospital.
As told by Clinton Fire Chief Joel Atkinson, the federal property came to be under the control of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and as a result of the efforts of then-Fire Chief Mark Regenwether and the use of grant funds, the grounds then came to belong to Clinton Fire Department in 2008.
The use of the property as a training site makes it possible for the department's firefighters to meet training requirements without having to travel hours away. The space has been an ongoing project utilizing only donations and grants, yet it successfully meets the training requirements and other needs of the Clinton Fire Department as well as the Camanche, Fulton, Illinois and Andover fire departments.
The city also finds the site valuable for various uses, such as the training of newly hired trash collection workers.
The site's transformation to meet its intended purposes began after it was bought in 2008, with the addition of blacktop and then railcars in 2009. A forcible-entry door, with thick locks fastened shut, simulates getting through a door and into a burning home.
One of the buildings flanking the grounds was cleaned out by a hired company so the firefighters could use it to hone their skills by training with smoke more commonly used at Halloween. The grounds now also have two hydrants donated by Iowa American Water for pump training, power poles installed by Alliant Energy that hold dead power lines and, most recently, the towers.
Next, Forari says they'd like to build a confined space. He says he's always looking for props to add to the training grounds.
The Clinton Fire Department also is currently hiring new recruits. The deadline to apply is 4:30 p.m. Sept 16. For a packet and description about the position, visit https://temp.cityofclintoniowa.us/?dip_document=firefighter.
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©2022 the Clinton Herald (Clinton, Iowa)
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