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HOWLAND – While Howland’s fire department came up short in obtaining all of the funding it was seeking for a project aimed at centralizing emergency training, fire Chief Raymond Pace considers the $450,000 obtained to be a “massive step in the right direction.”
Pace, as part of his remarks at Wednesday’s regular trustees meeting, noted that trustees gave the fire department and Howland Training Center permission to apply for a new regional training facility, through the state capital budget.
Pace said he received a phone call from State Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, notifying fire officials that they were awarded $450,000. They originally applied for $750,000.
Pace thanked Santucci, State Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Lenox, and Trumbull Career & Technical Center Superintendent Jason Gray, as well as other community partners and shareholders that supported them through the process. Pace said he was working on the project with several counties – Geauga, Ashtabula and Portage – and he had to receive letters of support.
Pace said then that the fire department received six letters – from the Trumbull County Fire Chiefs Association, each county’s emergency management agency and Trumbull and Ashtabula’s career centers.
“All of those stakeholders really helped us be successful,” Pace said.
Pace said the funds have been granted, but there’s been no movement of bonds from the state’s budget.
“I was told the process will take some time, so I do not have a definitive timeline for you on that. I did ask that question,” Pace said. “We’re extremely grateful for what we were awarded, but to try to really build a state-of-the-art facility, some more funding would really help.”
Pace said fire officials would like to see a four-story burn building, with the first floor simulating a kitchen fire and the second floor, a bedroom fire.
“We would have multiple rooms on the second story where we’re able to ladder, go through windows, do search training, rescue people from buildings, take them out,” Pace said. “The third and the fourth story would really allow for any type of special operations unit, which ties into some of our county teams for rope rescue, confined space rescue and aerial operations, along with the classes that we teach.”
Pace previously said the department had a burn building it used in the past because they run the Howland Fire and EMS Training Center, but it was decommissioned after 14 years because it was no longer safe to use.
Pace said the TCTC would be the ideal location for the training center as it’s central in the county and TCTC has been a “phenomenal partner” to the fire department.
“We’re the only licensed fire charter in Trumbull County to teach Fire I and Fire II classes, and we are also the contracted entity to TCTC to teach Fire I, Fire II and EMT at the high school level, junior and senior years,” Pace said.
Pace said they want the building and location to be “all-encompassing”, so fire departments from all over the county can come together and train.