No idealistic vision can take shape without the first step. The North Metro (Colo.) Fire Rescue District saw that vision become a reality when it opened the doors to a 14-acre, clean-burn training facility, the first training facility in the district.

The North Metro Fire Rescue District is a 63-acre fire district north of Denver with a population of 103,000. The area consists of suburban, rural and light-industrial properties. The fire district covers portions of Interstate 25, portions of Highway 36 (connecting Denver to Boulder), the Northwest Parkway toll-road and the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.

When the fire chief first proposed the training center in 2001, he had no blue prints to follow, no land identified and no funding in place. He just had a vision. So how could the department provide safe, dynamic training that would achieve core competency levels in a facility designed to survive growing community and environmental restrictions?

Over the next two and a half years, Deputy Chief Joseph Bruce attended conferences on the subject and networked with individuals who specialized in designing and constructing training centers. In time, he established a rapport with a developer whose model helped translate personnel needs onto paper. As he visited training centers across the country and kept the lines of communication open with industry experts, drafts of the potential training center began to take shape. What started with a 5-acre site plan eventually grew into 14 acres, each draft based on careful examination of the true needs of the organization and the training shortfalls.

The creation process was the honeymoon phase of this journey, and that phase came to an end when the costs of this center had to be tied to each piece of infrastructure. The design would provide safe, dynamic training in a long-standing facility, but the department did not have the internal funding stream to build it. This led to regional thinking with proposals made to collaborate with mutual aid fire departments, law enforcement partners and local governments. To appeal to various agencies, drafts of different versions included a shooting range and driving track.

Agency responses fell flat. North Metro likely progressed too far in the research on its own or simply envisioned something too big for other agencies to visualize. But the surrounding agencies maintained that if North Metro could build it, they would come. North Metro Fire Rescue needed to find the funding and shoulder the project.

North Metro leaders believed in the project, so instead of searching for partners, the department presented the vision to the public. From January 2005 to May 2006, North Metro worked to gain grassroots support with voters to pass a $26 million bond issue to fund the construction of the training center, a headquarters building and two fire stations. Department representatives talked openly to the media about the current financial situation and deficiencies, even though the department could not campaign for impending election issues. While some administrators feared this strategy could create a negative image within the community by showing weaknesses, careful wording and positioning conveyed a sense of concern without creating panic.

The fire district posed its economic challenges in terms of issues the community already knew. As development in the community erupted, North Metro could demonstrate how this new development, infrastructure and population growth also placed an increased demand on emergency services systems and resources. Explaining how the training center benefited the community was a more complex venture, however. The department focused its message on environmental issues and safety.

North Metro told the public that with the training center, emergency crews would stay in district, avoiding delays in responses to developing emergencies during required training activities.

Officials also emphasized that the campus would feature clean-burning training buildings using propane rather than environmentally unfriendly sources such as wood or hay. Also unlike traditional burn facilities, this site would have a cityscape design with landscaping. In addition, the buildings would not have a scarred or unattractive exterior appearance due to the use of propane as a fuel source.

And they told the community that the training center would improve the safety, quality and duration of training, which ultimately would translate into more-adaptable and better-prepared first responders. This would be done through dynamic training scenarios including confined-space rescue and hazmat simulators; trench-rescue facilities; and a high-rise tower and props to simulate an unstable floor and roof environments.

All chief officers sought out opportunities to get in front of community groups and spread this message and answer any questions about the upcoming elections and the fire district's future. They prepared themselves for the toughest critics and questions.

North Metro also sought the support of two municipalities within the fire district. Any public objection made by these governmental entities likely would tip the scales in an insurmountable negative direction. North Metro personnel made great inroads with one municipality, the city of Northglenn. It had land potentially available for the center, and while its tax base was frail in comparison to other portions of the fire district, building the training center in that jurisdiction could give these voters additional benefits. Along with the explanations of better service and the environmentally friendly features of the design, North Metro also emphasized that the facility could become a destination point and possible revenue generator for Northglenn businesses.

On May 5, 2006, the community passed the bond issue. From this point forward, North Metro administrators painstakingly took the estimated numbers discussed with the voters for each piece of infrastructure and made sure they continued to match the numbers of what was actually built. There were comprises, changes and refinements to the plan, but the promises to taxpayers for fiscal responsibility were kept.

Now that it is built, the center increases available training opportunities in all emergency service disciplines. The fire training props, manufactured by Kidde Simulators, can be controlled by computer from an observation area and will allow a safety officer to stop the fuel source and end the training scenario if an injury or extreme hazard occurs. In addition, the burn props can be controlled from an internal location so a training officer can shut down a prop immediately if something goes wrong with a scenario.

With interchangeable features added to the training center, firefighters can achieve skills competencies without becoming complacent to static scenarios. Although the facility is clean-burning, smoke machines allow firefighters to deal with smoke obscurity like real fire situations. Burn buildings feature movable walls to change internal environments and the training ground's outdoor street signs can be switched. Finally, the streetscape design provides realistic driving conditions while allowing vehicles to be placed in ways that create environmental hazards and obstacles.

The center benefits surrounding community and firefighters as it addresses both environmental impact and firefighter safety. While many burn facilities struggle to operate with increasing environmental restrictions and community resistance, the training center is a clean-burn facility. All fire training props use propane, eliminating the black cloud and darkened buildings typically associated with burn facilities. In addition, in an effort to be water conscience, the facility includes a water retention pond that recaptures up to 60% of the water used in training exercises.

To help introduce the center to future users, North Metro hosted an industry peer event. Approximately 65 guests from 42 agencies toured the site and listened to a brief presentation about the goal to open the facility to outside agencies within the next year.

The decision to postpone opening the facility to outside users has given personnel and administrators a chance to monitor what is working and not working with the facility. Yet there needs to be a balance between revenue and expenditures. North Metro Fire Rescue District does not anticipate ever making a profit from the facility, but it is committed to removing the burden of facility maintenance from taxpayers.

With this philosophy driving decisions, North Metro is in another period of idea development to identify the type of training that will meet regional needs and interests. After this list is developed, North Metro will determine the costs associated with operating them and determine a fair fee to offset the administration and maintenance of the facility.

More than two acres of the training center were deliberately left untouched for future development. As the department continues to identify the largest and most compelling needs in emergency services training, it will have the ability to expand the training offered.

For many fire departments across this country, building a training center might seem like an idealistic vision — just as it was for North Metro Fire Rescue District seven years ago. But it is possible if a department builds its case internally by establishing a solid understanding of what the organization and community needs. From there the department can be clear on what type of facility can bring about the desired results. Trying to sell any concept quickly likely will result in failure; build a foundation one voter at a time through face-to-face conversations and public appearances. A department can use the media as a mass communicator and find someone experienced in media relations to help craft the best messages.

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Joseph Bruce began his career with the North Metro Fire Rescue in Colorado in September 2001 as the division chief of training. In July 2003, he was appointed division chief of operations and in 2008 he was named deputy chief. Previously he served as the fire chief for two rural Colorado fire departments and served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a fire protection specialist.

Wendy Forbes, North Metro Fire Rescue public-information officer/community outreach director, contributed to this article.

Facility Honors Injured Firefighter

On Sept. 17, the Fairmount (Colo.) Fire Protection District opened the largest modular fire training facility in the state. Capt. Tom Young, a firefighter injured in the line of duty over 18 years ago, was honored for his dedication during inaugural burn.

Young was heading home on July 6, 1990, when he responded to a call to help a hang glider who had crashed on Lookout Mountain. Young was lifted into the air by the glider as he tried to keep it out of the way of a helicopter that had responded to the incident. After being carried approximately 25 feet, he fell about 15 feet. The fall fractured his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic.

He returned to work two years later, taking over the public-education division. He has served the fire service for over 25 years as a firefighter, captain, fire inspector, fire department manager, board member and a mentor. Young currently is a member of the board of directors for the fire district and is an administrative captain in charge of media services. He also manages Golden, Colo.'s, Government Access Television Channel 8.

“Tom has made and continues to make terrific contributions to the firefighting profession,” Chief Don Angell says.

Young designed criteria and testing methods to hire a new fire chief in 2001. He has enhanced the types of emergency services Fairmount provides and has provided assistance, training and consulting to other departments nationwide. Young has been instrumental in the acquisition of new turnouts, new equipment and a new engine. He supported Fairmount's transition from a volunteer department to a combination department and has been a huge proponent for the agency's new training facility. He played a significant role in the design, purchase and installation of the building and is working to ensuring firefighters receive the highest levels of training and equipment.

“The fire experience Tom brings to the table ensures a balance for the volunteer firefighters and the business aspects of the department,” Angell says.