Economic Joint Training Facility
Regionalization may be the answer for many departments searching for a way to meet training needs on a lower budget. It was the answer for several fire departments in southwestern Ohio that collectively designed and developed a portable training facility.
The fire departments of Butler Township, Montgomery County; the City of Fairborn; the Greene County City of Huber Heights; and Riverside, Montgomery County, produced a practical selfcontained breathing apparatus training facility using a 40-foot trailer.
The joint training facility concept grew out of the need to overcome limitations on training opportunities. In the past, a , semirealistic SCBA training experience involved the participant’s donning an SCBA with an obstructed mask or, if fortunate enough, participating in a controlled burn. However, environmental concerns and the lack of abandoned houses scheduled for demolition have restricted live-training activities. Another factor contributing to researching and developing the regional trailer was a limited duty crew, which made it difficult to send personnel and apparatus to a stationary burn facility’ located in a nearby city.
PUNNING
A committee of representatives from the four fire departments researched the feasibility of the semitrailer concept; and after it had been agreed that the joint training facility should be established, the departments pooled their materials and resources and solicited the private sector.” The Fairborn Fire Department obtained a surplus 40-foot trailer that needed mechanical repairs. Fairborn provided the mechanical refurbishing the trailer needed to make transporting the trailer safe. The Butler Township Fire Department^ secured the necessary building materials from a nearby construction company. The training trailer concept was beginning to materialize.
The talents of many individuals, not all of whom were firefighters, and many hours of hard work went into the construction of the facility. The Huber Heights and Mad River fire departments performed all construction while on duty.
To produce a facility that would teach skills needed to successfully fight structure fires within the region, the committee incorporated into the trailer several features commonly found inside single and multistory residential structures that present obstacles for firefighters. Trainees can practice rafter crawls, ascents into a scuttle opening, climbing through windows, working around fixed partitions, and descending a stairway. The trailer has several ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) electrical receptacles and interior ‘lights.
Including all these features in the trailer *was challenging. The trailer’s limited dimensions made effective use of space mandatory.
P The trailer is divided into four long corridors that travel the length of the facility. Built into each corridor are the i various selected obstacles.
The training trailer is rotated among departments quarterly.
Legal and administrative issues also had to be addressed. The City of Huber Heights, for example, has a local zoning regulation that restricts trailer parking, including that of the completed training trailer, which would have to be kept on city property for the three months our department would have it available for training. We submitted an application for a variance, which ultimately was granted by the planning board.
Regionalization has proven beneficial and cost-effective in providing a training facility four departments can share.
