WHITEWATER — A three-story corrugated steel structure in a Whitewater industrial park will soon prepare the city's firefighters for the dangerous scenarios they may face in the line of duty.
Construction on the new Whitewater Fire Department Training Center is nearly finished. Assistant Fire Chief Ryan Dion said the building took two years of planning and permitting before the steel took shape.
"As a training officer, it is a huge weight off of my shoulders," Dion said.
The structure can withstand fire from the inside, which means Whitewater firefighters can train by actually doing drills within the fire and smoke.
"Before this, we would black out our mask and put something over our mask to limit our visibility, but that's not training in true smoke and heat conditions," Dion said.
The new building also gives the Whitewater Fire Department flexibility on when they can run training exercises. Dion said they currently have to wait until the right kind of structure becomes available.
"Oftentimes we'll get buildings which are vacant or being demolished, but we can't necessarily flow water into them," Dion said.
The steel training structure contains pieces which approximate the roofs and balconies firefighters could experience in and around Whitewater.
The new training center should be ready for its first exercises in September. Dion believes the investment will pay off for both his firefighters and the community.
"No firefighter here in this department shows up and says, 'I want to be mediocre at my job today,'" Dion said. "When they show up to an incident, perhaps on your property, they're going to have a good foundation of skills and knowledge to put to use to help you."
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