Issue 33: 17 Years Ago: Fire and Rescue Training Center DedicatedThis is a featured page


photo fire & rescue training
Loudoun County officially dedicated its Fire and Rescue Training center 17 years ago this month, on August 12, 1990. The facility is located at 16600 Courage Court, off Sycolin Road, southeast of Leesburg Executive Airport.

At the time of its opening, the state-of-the-art training center was used to conduct an ongoing training program for over 500 fire and rescue personnel, most of whom were volunteers.

The $6.1 million training center consisted of classrooms, learning labs, study areas, commission and administration offices, and a structural fire training building. It also housed the county's emergency communications center (ECC).

The classroom and administration building included an auditorium with seating for 200 people, two classrooms, an extensive fire and rescue library, an audio-visual resource room and an exercise room.

The ECC, located in the basement of the classroom and administration building, was – and still is – jointly operated by the Sheriff's Office and Department of Fire and Rescue. The ECC houses dispatching consoles where 911 calls are received and dispatched to the appropriate response teams. The ECC cost about $2 million.

The structural fire training building, informally known as the "burn building," is used to simulate real-life fire fighting conditions for training purposes. The building was designed with features of a single family residence, an apartment building, and a commercial building, to simulate a variety of fire situations.
"The training center is the result of tremendous cooperation between the Board of Supervisors and the Fire and Rescue Commission," said Lewis "Buzzy" Carter, who was then the chairman of the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Commission. "It will be a great benefit to the community."

Betty W. Tatum, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said that the new training center represented a major investment in Loudoun's fire and rescue system.

"The Board is very pleased that this facility is now available to enhance the county's fire and rescue services to the community," she said.


Sources:

Loudoun County press release

Leesburg Today

Image: Fire & Rescue personnel training at the “Burn Building,” 1990; photo by Jim Barnes


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