SUN PRAIRIE, WI – Training for firefighters in Henrietta, N.Y. just got a bit more challenging. This summer the fire district cut the ribbon on their new Fire Chief training tower from Fire Facilities. Equipped with a burn room on the first floor and interior stairs to multiple floors, the 40-foot high tower offers diversified training options.
“This new structure is a definitive step of expanding the training campus from a volunteer fire house and burn building into an entire training facility and staffed career fire station,” says Fire Chief Mark Cholach, CFO with the Henrietta Fire District. “As our district has evolved, so have our training requirements.
“We had a concrete burn structure that served us well for almost 40 years. During our research we looked at new training facility options. We determined that the Fire Facilities structure met our requirements at a cost effective level.”
The Fire Chief structure selected by the Henrietta Fire District features an interior fixed ladder, roof-mounted chop-out curbs, and parapet roof guard with chain opening. The training tower allows for a variety of training exercises including hose advancement, fire attack, search and rescue, rappelling, laddering, confined space, and high-angle rescue operations.
Gearing Up for Training
The new training structure was secured through a bond approved by area residents. Their investment will be put to good use, with an excess of 500 people training at the facility annually.
“Just from our agency, we have 140 personnel who will be rotating through the building annually,” says Cholach. “The campus will also host career firefighting academies, plus regional training offered by the state and county. In addition there will be law enforcement training. Our Municipal Training Officer, Capt. Chuck Dodson, who played a strong role in bringing the Fire Chief to our community, will be overseeing the facility and its training programs.”
According to Cholach, a 31-year veteran firefighter, the work to bring the new training center to the Henrietta Fire District started in 2019. “The Fire Facilities staff was supportive,” says Cholach. “There were some minor hiccups along the way, but the end product worked out well. That’s what’s important. Right now we’re gearing up for training and everyone in the seven fire stations in our district is looking forward to training on The Fire Chief.”
The new training tower is located at the Francis G. Byrne Training Center at Station 6, at 60 Erie Station Road in West Henrietta, N.Y. The training campus also includes two multi-story burn buildings, a vehicle extrication training area, 100-seat auditorium classroom, fire station, drafting pond and ancillary buildings.
Fire Facilities, Inc. (FFI), founded in 1989 and an ISFSI corporate sponsor, manufactures a full line of steel fire training structures engineered to withstand real-life firefighting conditions. From mobile units to burn rooms to high-rise towers, FFI training models are available in a multitude of configurations. Our parent company, Trachte Building Systems, is one of the largest and oldest manufacturers of steel self-storage systems in the industry. For more information, visit www.firefacilities.com or call 800-929-3726.
