Bartlesville Fire Department hosted a three-day Calm the Chaos command-style training over the weekend at Tri County Tech’s Emergency Service Live Fire Training Facility in Bartlesville.
Eight BFD personnel completed the train-the-trainer course, which now allows them to offer the training to all other BFD firefighters.
The facility is open for use by any first responders to train their employees. On Thursday night, Tri County Tech hosted an open house to debut the facility to the public.
“This facility allows us to offer necessary firefighter training close to home for fire departments across our region, including volunteer and rural fire departments,” said Fire Chief David Topping. “This reduces the need for firefighters to travel long distances for vital trainings and thus minimizes costs for our fire departments.”
The Tri County Tech Emergency Services Live Fire Training Facility has been designed to allow training opportunities for various public safety disciplines. Built by American Fire Training Systems, the Class A steel fire training tower (Live Burn Training Facility) provides the basis for both “live fire” along with smoke conditions for training and skill enhancement for fire personnel and other agencies.
“The training tower provides a safe and realistic training facility which enhances the skills of our area firefighters,” said Topping.
Topping and Bartlesville firefighter Barry Campbell are among the members that serve on the Tri County Tech Rescue Training Tower Board, which provides guidance and is dedicated to meet the ever-changing training demands of the region.
Since its opening in 2021, the facility has attracted emergency services professionals from across Oklahoma who have utilized its resources. Trainings include current techniques in fire suppression, vehicle extrication, hazardous materials mitigation, emergency medical services, fire prevention, public education, and community risk reduction.