A place of their own

Bartlett mayor and aldermen give their approval for the investigation of building a firefighter training facility near the town’s animal shelter.

Bartlett is considering building a fire training facility to provide more practice for its firefighters.

The city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen last week approved a $24,000 contract with the Renaissance Group for site plan and survey work at a location on the north side of the suburb near the animal shelter.

The 20-acre site is on Shelter Run Lane, between Rivercrest Drive and Misty River Drive and north of Bending River, “where we wouldn’t bother anybody,” Mayor Keith McDonald said.

Bartlett firefighters can do some training now at the fire stations, but otherwise must go to facilities, such as those at Millington and Germantown, for training. That takes firefighters and equipment out of the city. On Thursday, crews were doing hose testing in the parking lot of Bartlett Baptist Church.

“All of our people are very excited,” Bartlett Fire Chief Terry Wiggins said of the proposed facility. “This is something we’ve never had.”

Wiggins and Chief Administrative Officer Mark Brown said plans are to built the facility in phases. If aldermen are satisfied with the Renaissance Group’s work and want to move ahead with the first phase, it would be included in the capital improvements budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Brown said he doesn’t have a figure on the cost because they are waiting on the consultant’s work.

The first phase would include a concrete pad with fire hydrants to help with training drivers, plus a retention pond where firefighters could train by drafting water from the pond to the pumpers, but also work on stillwater rescue operations.

One of the key elements of the training center will be the ability to conduct “live burns,” where firefighters have an opportunity to deal with a smoky environment.

Gone are the days where departments would practice by burning an abandoned house. Safety precautions and Environmental Protection Agency concerns have stopped that practice.

Wiggins said that after the live burn training there are few opportunities for firefighters to have more practice. Leaving the city for outposts like Millington or Germantown means resources are outside the city for hours at a time.

Wiggins even has held on to an old pumper that will be used at the training site, so if there is a call, crews can simply get on the regular firetrucks and leave.