Approved for grant, public safety training facility takes a big step forward

FARMINGTON – A training facility for firefighters, police and other first responders has taken a big step forward recently, having secured funding to enable the construction of a multi-story building near the Mt. Blue High School.

“It’s going to give us better trained firefighters, because they’re going to have more opportunities to do it,” Farmington Fire Rescue Chief Terry Bell said.

The concept of a local Public Safety Training Facility has been under consideration since 2014. There are only a handful of specialized training sites across the state, and the old method of burning a soon-to-be-demolished residence has fallen out of favor due to concerned neighbors and tightened restrictions from state agencies. The proposed facility, basically a concrete shell with specialized rooms equipped with heat sensors and ventilation systems, would allow local first responders, regional and state training events and the Foster Career and Technical Education Center firefighting class to practice at a safe, local site.

The town is currently working with Regional School Unit 9 to secure a lease agreement to locate the facility behind the school campus. That site would be ideal, Bell said, providing easy access for high school students in the firefighting program and allowing firefighters to access some of Foster Tech’s equipment, such as a device that charges air packs. It’s isolated enough that a little smoke from burning pallets and straw won’t impact any neighbors.

Other first responders could use the structure for training as well, Bell noted, including police tactical and K-9 training and EMT classes.

“Whatever you can think of, you can use [this facility] for,” Bell said.

A planning committee consisting of local public safety personnel and representatives from the Mt. Blue campus has been working on the design, which would consist of a three-tiered structure that could simulate a two-and-a-half story home as well as a four-story tower. The building’s footprint would be 28 feet by 48 feet, on a poured foundation. The structure would have no plumbing and very little electrical wiring, utilizing a couple of burn rooms and removable interior walls to approximate different firefighting environments. It would allow firefighters to practice some of the more difficult training scenarios, Bell said, such as contained space rescue or rappelling down the tower.

Over the past five years, funding construction has always been the biggest question for the project. The 128th Legislature approved $1.5 million over three years for the construction of new fire training facilities, through a bill submitted by now-state Sen. Erin Herbig. The funds are held by the Southern Maine Community College but were to be distributed by the Maine Fire Protection Services Commission.

Eight communities submitted a total of $2.7 million-worth of requests and a committee empowered by the state commission recommended that four requests be approved. These included repairing a facility in Auburn, replacing an existing training center in Yarmouth and new buildings in Fairfield and Farmington.

Farmington is slated to receive $539,964 in 2020, or potentially sooner. That would cover the construction costs of the training facility, Bell said Wednesday. He credited Farmington Police Sgt. Edward Hastings IV, who is also the fire chief in Livermore Falls, as well as Farmington Fire Rescue Capt. Tim D. Hardy, for putting the grant application together. With those funds in place, Bell believes that the training facility could go up as soon as some final earth-moving is done around the site.

“This is really a great thing,” Bell said. “I see a lot of use of this facility.”

Besides local departments and those traveling to make use of the site, the state holds classes every year or two, lasting a week or more. Bell noted that University of Maine at Farmington had a memorandum of understanding to help provide housing for trainees.

In addition to the obvious synergy between the Foster Tech firefighting program – one that started in 2001 and was held initially at the Farmington Municipal Building – Bell said that student involvement could extend to other programs. The metal fabrication class could make steel props for the facility, for example. Three students at Foster Tech: Alexys Greenman, Hailey Rose and Bradie Reynolds, designed art for the project committee and for the facility itself.

“It’s a really good connection with the school,” Bell said.

While planners are continuing to seek grants and other sources of funding to complete the last piece – the pre-construction earth-moving, which an initial estimate indicated could cost roughly $70,000 – Bell is hopeful that people within the community will see the value of the facility and help contribute as well. People interested in helping out with the project can contact Bell at 207-491-3235.

Once that step is complete, Bell said that work could begin as soon as the next construction season.