Fire department has new training building
By ANDREW POTTER, TIMES-REPUBLICANArticle Photos
Fact Box
What does this training center mean for the Marshalltown Fire Department?
The new three-story training center will allow the department to train at their own facility. If the department wanted to train prior to having this structure they would have to go to a training school in a different location or wait for an old house to be donated to them. The facility is made of fire-resistant material that will allow for it to be used over and over again.
The Marshalltown Fire Department will not have to send their firefighters off to training schools or wait for an abandoned house to be donated for their training.
They have all they need now at Marshalltown Community College.
The department built a three-story $144,000 training facility on the MCC campus. It is essentially two cargo containers stacked on top of one another.
The structure will allow for several different types of fire training and is made of fire-resistant insulation that can be used over and over again.
"It's a great tool and something we've needed for a long time," said Deputy Fire Chief Steve Edwards. "We'll use it at least three to four times a month."
A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid for 90 percent of the structure with the city and county helping with the rest.
A benefit of having a training building in town according to Edwards is the department can train as a team with the equipment they use everyday. Often at training schools firefighters are paired up with people from different departments and use equipment that is not their own.
Training is expected to start at the structure within a week. While the Marshalltown Fire Department will get the bulk of the use, other county fire departments are also expected to train there. The college will also be able to host fire training programs for other fire departments in the state.
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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com
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10waman
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09-17-08 11:17 AM
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Wow, what a spend thrift city we live in. It wasn't good enough to go to a state run school that brought in national instructors and new trends, with the ability to meet with other fire personnel to learn from them. Is this another economic development stategy to bring wealth to the community????? Three or four times a month? Will this save us from the one or two house fires we have per year. What about the program of training the trainer? No new programs for our firemen! Let's paint a flag on it, that should make everything all right.
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Mongo1
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09-17-08 1:26 AM
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m happy for the FD
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