VIDEO/PHOTOS: The Kentwood Fire Department has opened a new three-story training facility, designed to better prepare firefighters for emergency responses they might face in our community.
The over $600,000 state-of-the-art facility allows crews to conduct live fire simulations and practice various emergency response techniques in a controlled environment.
“Every one of our crews comes in, off duty and does simulation, training evolution, training on fire. We’re actually having live fires,” Deputy Michael Chief Hipp said.
The facility incorporates all training evolutions that firefighters would encounter during actual emergency calls, from residential to commercial fires.
“We incorporate all of our evolutions into this facility, because that is not any different than what we will do when we actually go to a residential fire or a commercial fire,” Hipp said. “So practicing ladder throws. They’re actually going to go up on the roof and cut holes in the roof using vent saws and practicing all of the evolution pieces that we use during a ventilation on an actual structure fire.”
The training facility represents a significant advancement for the department, which had been seeking this type of resource for decades.
