PHOTOS: American City & County has named the Livingston County Office of Emergency Management’s Fire Training Tower as a 2024 recipient of its annual Crown Communities Award. The award recognizes city or county projects that have had a positive impact on their local community as a whole.
The Livingston County project is one of only six nationwide to receive the award. Since its completion in August 2024, the four-story facility has served as a valuable multi-purpose training tool for firefighters, local law enforcement, and emergency response teams throughout the region, including those from Monroe, Steuben and Genesee counties, county officials said.
The training tower, located at the Hampton Corners County Complex in Mount Morris, represents a considerable step forward in emergency response training for the county’s first responders, county officials said in a news release.
The training tower features burn rooms on three floors. The structure allows firefighters to hone their skills in a number of different fire scenarios, including basement fires, second-story blazes, and several other types of firefighting situations.
“The Fire Training Tower has really transformed how we train our community’s first responders,” said Office of Emergency Management Director Will Gall. “With the wide variety of scenarios it’s capable of reproducing, our response teams are more prepared than ever before to expertly respond to the many different situations they encounter every day. Approximately 40 state certificates have been earned through the tower in less than seven months in service. The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is also currently using the facility for their SWAT Academy, with several deputies and officers scheduled to graduate tomorrow.”
Beyond its primary firefighting functions, the tower also features 22 rope rescue anchors for specialized training in rope rescue techniques, such as high-angle rescues, confined space rescues, and other challenging scenarios emergency responders may have to navigate. All local fire departments and law enforcement partners have access to the tower for training and certification, furthering their ability to protect lives and property in Livingston County.
