Hoover Fire Department opens new training building
A group of Hoover firefighters and city officials gathered at Station 6 Thursday morning to celebrate the opening of a new training facility.
Next to the existing training tower there is a new metal building which allows firefighters to experience the conditions produced in a structure fire. Within the two-story structure, there are several rooms in which the firefighters have to navigate through smoke and fire.
Closable windows and doors allow for a variety of simulations, and the overall structure helps replicate the heat firefighters would encounter when responding to a burning building.
Hoover Fire Chief John C. Wingate said not only will Hoover firefighters be able to train at the facility, but firefighters from surrounding departments will also be able to utilize the structure. Members of Cahaba Valley and North Shelby fire departments were also present at the dedication of the training facility, and Father John Fallon from Prince of Peace Catholic Church was present to bless the buildings.
“Today, we want to just thank you. The reasoning for this is its very important to, I think, all of our fire department members,” Wingate said. “We want to bless this training facility where we’re going to do our live fires.”
Wingate said he hopes for safe training at the station and thanked department members for the work they put into the construction of the new facility.
“They took a lot of pride and ownership in this building, from going and picking out the individual containers and then coming in, working with Hoover Public Works,” Wingate said. “I can’t say enough on them. They have really stepped up to the plate and helped us develop what we have here.”
Battalion Chief Clay Bentley, who is in command of the department’s training, health and safety bureau, thanked everyone who came out for the dedication. He also thanked Mayor Gary Ivey, the Hoover City Council, Wingate and anyone else who was a part of the process.
“It’s kind of funny how this thing started,” Bentley said. “…This was a vision that several members of our department had, and we looked at this thing economically as a way for us to build something that would fit our needs. We researched a lot of things over the years, and we determined this, we felt like this would fit our needs.”
Following opening speeches and a prayer from Fallon, attendees were invited to tour the facility and stay for lunch and a demonstration of the training building in action.