Training Facility

The training facility houses of a number of training aids for both fire and police training. A four-story tower looks over the facility providing opportunities for standpipe and sprinkler operations. The tower is equipped with a net allowing the safe practice of rope rescue scenarios and is excellent for practicing maneuvers with aerial apparatus.

A 900 square foot smoke shack provides an area to familiarize new personnel with breathing equipment. The four-room structure contains much of the same furnishings found in a normal residence. Even in small spaces, firefighters have gotten lost in dense smoke. It is important that the basic skills of self-rescue are practiced at regular intervals. One room of the structure has been modified to allow small fires. For some of our personnel, it is their first time to experience the heat of a structure fire. We supplement this training with acquired structures whenever possible, but it is the hope of the department to add a burn structure in the next few years. This will allow additional live-fire training on a regular schedule. An underground confined-space maze can be accessed from the smoke shack. There are also two outside manholes for the tunnels where simulated rescues can be practiced.

To train with flammable liquids and LP gas, the facility has two burn pits and an LP tank fire area. Expert hose-handling is a must before firefighters advance on burning fuel to cut off the valves that will stop the flow of gas or oil. The fire stream is the only barrier between the nozzleman and temperatures that easily exceed 1200 degrees. In near future, we hope to add LP gas to a vehicle to simulate car fires.

The classroom building contains two classrooms. One of the rooms can accommodate 100 students. The building also contains some offices for Burlington Fire Department and Burlington Police Department. Behind the classroom building is a driving pad for practicing control of emergency vehicles. Each driver must work his/her apparatus through a series of obstacles within a strict time limit to successfully complete this course.

All agencies using the facility must schedule their time and areas in advance. Scheduling use of the Training Center can be done through an Online Request Form