Former MA Addiction Center Transforms into Training Facility

BRIDGEWATER, MA — What once served as an alcohol and substance abuse treatment center is showing signs of a new purpose.

Fourteen recruits from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy began training at the former site in mid-January and will be the first to graduate from the Department of Fire Service's newest training facility.

"This would put our full services within reach of our six southeastern counties," said State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey.

Plans are shaping up to develop the site into a service training and technical rescue facility that will serve southeastern Massachusetts. Currently, DFS is using buildings from the former center and repurposed some of them for training recruits and housing department staff members.

Before Bridgewater, the department operated two training facilities: at its headquarters in Stow and in Springfield.

There is a six to eight-month wait for recruits to train, and travel to the two facilities can be long for those from southeastern Massachusetts.

One of the recruits is from Lakeville and the others come from the South Shore, South Coast, Cape Cod and other parts of the state.

Building a campus in the southeast region was the next step, he said. Once the Bridgewater facility is complete, Ostroskey hopes that will bring down the wait time for training.

In total, the department is looking to develop 18 acres for the facility, which is located near Old Colony Correctional Center.

About $10 million to develop the DFS site has been included in a bond bill that the state Legislature is considering.

The department has received funding for the Bridgewater facility in the state's previous budget and Gov. Charlie Baker has proposed nearly $4 million for it in the Fiscal 2021 budget.

That money would help start construction on a burn building, a fire house, and a water reclamation system so that the facility can reuse water in training, Ostroskey said.

His vision for the facility also includes turning four existing buildings into a dormitory, personal training area, a search and rescue area, and space for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, he said.

"The fire service faces new challenges every day. The way we're set up is to address current issues in our training," Ostroskey said. "We get the whole picture and are able to provide the support for the fire service."

During a Tuesday tour of the campus, he pointed out classrooms, buildings, and other infrastructure already in place.

Less than a year ago, fire services staff re-purposed one of the former buildings into an indoor training area and equipment storage.

The courtyard where outdoor training takes place was cleared to make room for mobile training props and a training tower.

"I still can't get over how quickly we were able to get this operational," Ostroskey said.

In addition to having training and classroom space, the Bridgewater campus has an administrative building for DFS staff members and investigators from the department and those assigned from State Police.

A year and a half ago, former Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Secretary Dan Bennett suggested that DFS look into the former Department of Corrections treatment facility parcel, he said, which led to talks with DOC and a plan to transfer the property over from the corrections department to the fire service.

"It worked out great to capitalize on existing state land," Ostroskey said. "It put us light years ahead."

Staff writer Mina Corpuz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @mlcorpuz

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