Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rogers fire training center set to expand
ROGERS — The Fire Department’s training center is set to get a $1 million expansion.
The approximately 7,000-square-foot building on West Oak Street has classrooms for training people going through the fire academy and for continuing education for firefighters, said Chief Tom Jenkins. Firefighters working toward promotions or certifications also take classes at the center. The Planning Commission approved final plans for a 3,000-square-foot addition.
“The professional development of the city’s firefighters is crucial,” Jenkins said.
The addition will include a classroom to hold about 100 people, he said. The center has a classroom for about 30 people and one for about 50.
“It’s used regionally,” he said. “We host classes all the time.”
Michael Bronner, battalion chief of training at the Springdale Fire Department, said his firefighters have attended training at Rogers. He said Northwest Arkansas fire departments use each other’s facilities and work together. He said Springdale has two classrooms in one of its fire stations and is designing a free-standing training center.
Springdale’s budget for training, not including salaries and benefits for its training division staff, is about $182,000, Bronner said. The money covers things such as paramedic school, travel, textbooks and training props.
Fayetteville firefighters have also used Rogers’ facilities as well as hosted firefighters at their facilities, said Brad Hardin, fire chief. The department’s combined training budgets, including salaries and benefits for training staff, building upkeep, travel for training, fees for classes and more, is about $430,000, he said.
Likewise, Rogers spends an estimated $500,000 a year on training, including training staff salaries, Jenkins said.
“We have a pretty robust training staff,” he said.
Springdale and other surrounding departments will benefit from Rogers’ extra space, Bronner said.
“We always have a spirit of cooperation,” Jenkins said.
Rogers voters approved the expansion project in 2018 as part of the nearly $300 million bond issue, which included $9.5 million for the Fire Department.
The training center is on what has become a training campus. The department recently built a burn building to replace one built in the ’90s. The building allows firefighters to practice fighting a fire, but the building doesn’t burn down. Jenkins said the building is in use almost every day.
Jenkins said the campus was created in the 1990s. At the time, it was on the city’s west side, but because of Rogers’ growth toward the west, it is centrally located to the city’s stations.
Construction could start on the expansion within the next few weeks and be complete in mid-summer, Jenkins said. A new fire station on West Pleasant Grove Road across from the Shadow Valley subdivision on the city’s west side will also be complete about the same time. The station is also a 2018 bond project.
Alex Golden can be reached by email at agolden@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAalexgolden.