Public Safety Training Facilities

This Phoenix suburb had a population of under 2,000 in 1970 and is now the home to over 300,000 residents. With growth came a need for larger, well-trained police and fire departments. This 54-acre, $66M fire, police, and EMS training center was created to facilitate the training for the rapidly growing departments.

In 2013, Bergen County personnel responded to an active shooter in the 2.2M square-foot Paramus Mall. This incident exemplifies the universal need for first responders to train for unpredictable, complex emergencies in addition to the routine, daily calls.

When this large DC suburb decided to use the existing training center’s land as part of a medical research corridor, the fire and police departments needed a new $68M public safety training academy located in a different part of the county.

The 60-acre facility includes:

• 76,000 sf academy building
• Indoor shooting range
• High bay training building with indoor simulated streetscape
• 6-story, gas-fired burn tower simulating various commercial occupancies
• Gas-fired residential burn building
• Simulated neighborhood with four houses
• EVOC
• Outdoor gas-fired props
• 36,000-gallon drafting pit
• USAR training areas
• Numerous fire and special ops props
• K-9 facility

The design team successfully balanced the needs of the multiple agencies who share the facility and the needs of the surrounding neighbors, which include high-end single-family residences and a municipal airport.

Filling a vital training need in Idaho’s capital, the 17-acre fire training center’s full buildout will include four live fire training structures, classroom building, support/apparatus building, various rescue training areas, outdoor fire props, and hazmat training area in a realistic streetscape. The $10M Phase 1 included the classroom building, support/apparatus building, Class A Residential Burn Building, and gas-fired, 5-story Commercial Tower that simulates retail, warehouse, apartment, hotel, and office occupancies. Planning and design for Phase 2 are now underway and EL&M is helping the A/E team with that effort.

When a fire department requires over 1,600 uniformed firefighters to protect 1.5 million citizens, 520 square miles, and respond to 200,000 incidents per year, it needs to train rigorously to maintain its capabilities and replenish retiring firefighters with new recruits. The 58-acre fire training center was constructed via the design/build method.

Needing to facilitate its degree programs in fire science, criminal justice, EMS/paramedic, and UAS, and to support fire and police academies, Aims Community College built a 43-acre, $45M public safety institute over two phases.

The Washington State Fire Training Academy operates under the umbrella of the Washington State Patrol, with both law enforcement and firefighter training occurring on the campus in North Bend. Delivering both recruit academies and training for experienced and specialized personnel, the training center needed additional facilities to supplement the existing classroom building, dormitories, burn tower, and specialized fire and rescue training props. The multi-phase expansion project is arranged in a neighborhood streetscape.

The North Carolina community college system delivers a significant percentage of the fire training programs in the state. FTCC had provided effective firefighter and rescue classes for years but needed a new training center to better facilitate the growing and evolving training needs. Built on two adjacent parcels totaling 30 acres, this $40M multi-phase fire and rescue training center serves the full spectrum of firefighter and rescue training.

A world-renowned first responder training organization, TEEX (Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service) provides training across more than 350 acres for structural firefighting, industrial firefighting, technical rescue, driver operations, law enforcement tactics, and electrical power/utilities. As TEEX’s partner of more than 20 years, EL&M has designed burn buildings, performed structural evaluations, and assisted with master planning across the campus.

Over 20 years ago, the State of Connecticut identified a need for eight regional fire schools around the state to deliver training to career and volunteer departments. Four locations had existing training facilities that were 30 to 50+ years old, some built by volunteer firefighters on weekends. The initial statewide master planning study was a success, and the state legislature funded five of the projects over the next 15 years. The completed fire schools include administration/classroom buildings, Class A burn buildings, training towers, drafting pits, and various storage and support buildings.