The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services’ new campus for the western part of the state is being dedicated tomorrow. The new facility took just a year to construct, but was decades in the making.
The $13.4 million project built on the site of the former Springfield Fire Training Center is a state-of-the-art facility for firefighters from the western part of the state, according to state Fire Marshall Stephen Coan.
" It is huge for the western Mass fire services because it will provide the opportunity for hands-on and classroom training without having to travel to the eastern portion of the state," said Coan.
At a groundbreaking ceremony for the project a year ago, Coan explained that fire chiefs from western Massachusetts had advocated for decades to get a training facility located in the region.
" I am in my 38th year with the Department of Fire Services and my first job was to write a master plan to develop regional fire training facilities," said Coan. " No one ever said it was going to come quick."
The new fire services campus in Springfield includes a building with offices and classrooms and two structures that are used for live-fire training.
In addition to providing a place to train, the campus will house arson investigators and code enforcement officers.
Many of the fire departments in western Massachusetts rely on volunteers or on-call firefighters. Fire chiefs in small-town departments say they don’t have the resources to adequately train in live-fire or hazardous materials situations.
Officials said the state fire service’s facility located in Stow in eastern Massachusetts had a waiting list last year for firefighter training.
Years were spent pursuing a plan to build a fire training center at the Westover Air Force Reserve Base in Chicopee, but the option fell through.
The Springfield Fire Training Center, which the state purchased from the city for $2 million, was built in the 1970’s according to Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant.
" We are going to share this with the state and we'll have a state-of-the-art facility to train our firefighters," said Conant.
Mass. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito is scheduled to be the featured speaker at Tuesday’s dedication. Others scheduled to attend are Secretary of Public Safety and Security Daniel Bennett, Coan, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and State Senate President Stan Rosenberg.