Training tower ‘amazing’ addition for fire department

Fire tower has multi stories for different scenarios

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Fire Department opened its new fire tower to the public March 18 after a ceremonial ribbon-cutting hosted by Farmington Chamber of Commerce.

Chief Bill Hellard said firefighters would use the new tower for the first time soon, though it would not involve any burning yet. Hellard said some of the volunteers need to complete additional training before the new tower can be used for live fires.

The Farmington City Council approved Hellard’s request for a new training structure about one year ago. The tower, made out of seven shipping containers, was put together over three days last week by Lonestar Tactical Buildings.

In all, including a concrete foundation pad, fencing and grading, the tower cost about $410,000 out of the city’s general reserve fund.

The tower is three-story on the back and also has one story and two stories.

“You can simulate whatever you need to simulate, whether one story, a two-story or three stories,” Hellard. “However creative you want to be with it.”

He said firefighters already are planning scenarios for their training in the structure.

The tower is smaller than ones found in larger cities, such as Fayetteville, but for Farmington,” this is perfect and it is expandable so we can add on as we need it,” Hellard said.

“This is going to be an amazing addition to our fire department,” Hellard said to those gathered for the ceremony. “As many of you know, we used to crawl around our fire stations, crawl up around our bedrooms and everything to try to practice our skills that we do and we were very limited on what we could practice and train on.”

The new tower will allow full-time and volunteer firefighters the ability to train on live burns and do rappelling off the upper floors.

“It allows us to practice all the skills and do it repeatedly so we get very good at what we do and can continue to keep those skills up,” Hellard added.

The facility should be able to serve the community for 40-50 years and will not only serve Farmington but also other small fire departments in the area.

“If we can train with them, that helps us all to get better and makes everyone safer. It will be wonderful not only for our city but for this side of Washington County,” Hellard said.

Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn said March 18 is a “monumental day for the fire department. This is a day that the fire department can advance in their education and training. That’s huge.”

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Lynn Kutter) The Farmington Chamber of Commerce sponsored a ribbon-cutting March 18 for the new Farmington fire training tower, located on Broyles Street behind the city public works building. The building, made from seven shipping containers, was open to the public before the department starts using it.

(Courtesy Photo/City of Farmington) Farmington Fire Department’s new training tower is made up of seven shipping containers that were stacked on top of each other and bolted down. The structure was installed over three days.

(Courtesy Photo/City of Farmington) The training tower has three stories in the back, along with an area with one story and two stories. The structure is expected to lasst 40-50 years and can be expanded as needed in the future. Cranes were used last week to stack the shipping containers on top of each other.