A new facility in Cumberland County will help those emergency workers be ready for future storms.
Fayetteville Technical Community College plans to build an indoor swift water rescue training facility at its Regional Fire & Rescue Training Center, which is now under construction on Tom Starling Road.
The training site, which will include an 88,000-gallon tank, will be in an 8,400-square-foot building, according to a statement released by FTCC officials. The tank will allow emergency workers to train year-round for a variety of dangerous swift water and flood water rescue scenarios, it said.
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Eight pumps on the tank will be able to blast water at up to 7 knots per hour to simulate realistic flood situations, the statement said.
FTCC’s board of trustees unanimously approved $3.5 million for the facility Monday. The project also must be approved by the State Board of Community Colleges, which may consider the proposal as early as this week, according to the statement.
If the state board approves the project, FTCC hopes to open the facility within a year and a half.
Training for swift water and flood water rescues in natural environments can be difficult and dangerous, the statement said. FTCC’s indoor facility could operate daily, providing a variety of training scenarios, it said.
Certified swift water rescue workers have to go through regular training to maintain their credentials, according to the statement. North Carolina has more than 40 such teams, it said.
FTCC President Larry Keen said the new facility will serve a critical training need in Cumberland County, eastern North Carolina and beyond.
“Dangerous flood and swift-water situations can happen almost anywhere,” he said. “It is vitally important that emergency responders have specialized training in these instances. With this new facility, FTCC will be able to provide that training.”
Fathom Tanks of Georgetown, Texas, is expected to provide the tank and technology for FTCC’s training facility. The company operates an indoor facility that can train emergency workers in a variety of scenarios, including different weather, water temperatures, current flow, obstacles, rescue challenges and simulated rescues at night, the statement said.
The new facility will have vehicles and sections of buildings that can be submerged in the tank for training scenarios, according to the statement. It also will have a classroom and locker rooms.
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Local news editor Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3572.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: FTCC plans swift water rescue training facility in Cumberland County