The Warner Robins Fire Department is building a new training center they say is needed to keep their firefighters and the public safe.
Fire Chief Ross Moulton says parts of the current training center are more than 30 years old and that makes it harder for their firefighters to prepare for the real world.
At the Wellston Ridge Apartments in Warner Robins, property manager Christina Ritchie says the potential for fires are never far from her mind.
“I never really worried about it until I had it happen. Now, it's definitely a big concern,” Ritchie said in the leasing office on Wednesday.
In July of 2017 they lost 10 units in a fire.
It's why Ritchie says she supports a new training center for the Warner Robins Fire Department.
Captain Mike Thorn says they're doing it for people like Ritchie.
“For the citizens of this town, we're going to be better prepared through our actions when we show up,” Thorn said at the construction site.
The staircase tower at their current site is 30 years old and supported telephone poles brought in from Flint Energies in the 1980s. At the time, the poles were condemned.
Last year, they had to be reinforced with wires connected to the ground.
A donated former duplex serves as a search and rescue simulator.
The department also uses two 40-foot shipping containers for live burn exercises. 13 WMAZ was given a tour of those containers on Wednesday, each container had holes in the floor.
13 WMAZ was also able to go to the top of the staircase tower, at the top most level, you can feel the tower sway back and forth.
“A lot of the facilities we have out there don't really match what the reality of firefighting,” Moulton said.
It's why they're spending $1.2 million in 2012 and 2018 SPLOST funds for a new three-story tower that will have simulated residential floors, indoor and outdoor staircases, and a simulated elevator shaft.
It also will have more than ten times the space dedicated to burn exercises, all for better training that Moulton says could save lives.
“We always revert back to the training that we receive, especially in stressful situations, things like that, so that's your core,” Moulton said.
Moulton says the new tower’s third floor will simulate hotel and motel space. He also said the indoor staircases will better simulate modern commercial properties, including places like Houston Healthcare.
The new 51-acre facility will be located off of Highway 247 and construction has already begun on the site for the tower.
The staircases at the new tour will go up six floors, the building will consist of three floors and a fourth floor deck.
Along with the new tower and simulated spaces, the new training center would let the WRFD practice on specialized fire scenarios that they currently must go to the Fire Academy in Forsyth to practice.
The WRFD also applied for a $800,000 grant from FEMA, as well as $750,000 additional dollars from the City’s general fund. That allocation has not been voted on or moved, according to the city’s Chief Financial Officer.
Moulton says the training center would be used frequently, like the current one, because the 108 active firefighters in his department are each required to have at least 200 hours of training every year.