VIDEO/PHOTOS: The Courtland Township Fire Department is constructing a new training facility using shipping containers to provide realistic fire scenarios for its members at a fraction of the cost of a traditional building. Fire Chief Steve Mojzuk said the project, which has been a dream of his since he joined the department in 1991, is being built with a $150,000 contribution from the township and $50,000 from his department’s budget. A traditional fire training building typically costs millions of dollars. The facility is being built from six shipping containers, an idea modeled after similar structures used by the Lansing and Saugatuck Fire Departments.
โLansing Fire Department and Saugatuck Fire Department have them, and we went and looked at theirs, and we kind of modeled ours after theirs,โ Mojzuk said. To further reduce costs, department members are volunteering to do most of the construction work themselves. โThat’s keeping the cost way down, because everybody’s volunteering,โ Mojzuk said. When completed, the facility will have four burn rooms and allow firefighters to simulate various situations, including kitchen and chimney fires, in a controlled environment. โWe built this, so you’ll be able to get firsthand experience going into a hot, heated building with a controlled atmosphere,โ the chief said.
