Lamar County fire officials are in the beginning stages of exploring the idea of constructing a fire training facility behind the Lamar County Emergency Operations Center on Central Industrial Row on Purvis.
County fire coordinator Kyle Hill discussed the subject Monday with the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, where he said all 13 fire chiefs in the county are in agreement with the process.
Currently, as required by the Mississippi State Rating Bureau, all fire departments in the county are trained in-house at existing stations, completing exercises like climbing through windows, simulating breaching doors and other activities.
“Then we reach out past that, where we have our fire classes that we actually have through certified instructors in the county, through Pearl River and sanctioned by the Mississippi State Fire Academy,” Hill said. “And then obviously our classes that we can take through the fire academy and at the fire academy.
“But a training facility in Lamar County will give us the opportunity to get the kind of training that we’re getting at the fire academy. Right now, if we train a new firefighter that’s a rookie who comes in and has never had any experience, probably the first time they really feel heat and smoke is going to be at their first house fire, the way it stands right now.”
A facility in the county, however, would give fire officials the ability to do a lot of non-fire training, such as emergency medical training, search and rescue training and HAZMAT training.
“Say, how do we get sick people or stranded people down a flight of stairs,” Hill said. “You think that’s pretty easy, but when they’re three or four hundred pounds, that’s kind of complicated to get somebody down three stories of stairs in an apartment complex.
“That facility would offer us training something similar to that. And the sheriff’s department … they could use that for breach purposes, for making entry into buildings, because it’s designed to be breached time and time again.”
In addition, the facility would offer a Class A fire rating, meaning officials would be able to burn items like natural wood products inside to give firefighters even more training. It also could offer a driving course, where emergency and law enforcement officials could learn how to drive those vehicles in a controlled environment.
“It would be a great tool for all our departments, for a lot of outside agencies,” Hill said. “We could host other agencies coming in, and other counties could use this.”
The facility would cost approximately $600,000, which would cover the building and needed infrastructure work. Officials will need to work with engineers and architects to get a more final price and seek funding from outside sources.
“I think right now is a fantastic time for that,” Hill said. “We saw after (Hurricane) Katrina, a lot of money became available, and we built a lot of fire stations.
“And as we try to jump start the economy, there may be some money that becomes available. So if we’ve got something ready, all we’ve got to do is start the bid process, and we’ll be ready to go.”
