The arrival of a $700,000 burn building to the Española Fire Department will change how firefighters are trained in Northern New Mexico.
Instead of having to travel to Socorro for live-fire training, firefighters across Rio Arriba county can now stay closer to home to complete their Fire 1 certification.
“For the first time ever, northern region firefighters will be able to do live-fire training and get the experience of actual fire in a burn building and training without having to travel,” Española Assistant Fire Chief John Wickersham said in a recent telephone interview.
Firefighters that want to get a Fire 1 certificate must attend a month-long online training course, followed by a two-week, in-person training course. Previously, the only training site in New Mexico was in Socorro. Firefighters must have 18 hours at a live-training site to qualify for certification.
The arrival of the burn building has been a long time coming.
Money for the structure came from leftover Capital Outlay funding awarded in Fiscal Year 2023.
Española received $3,125,000 to renovate the La Joya Fire Department station. They had about $1 million left over, Wickersham said, which they used to purchase the burn building and construct the fire pad on which it sits.
It will be open and ready within the next couple of weeks, he said.
The building was manufactured by WHP Training Towers in Grandview, Missouri. The company specializes in fully galvanized structural steel framed training systems. Each building is made of multiple modular units, which allows them to be easily customizable. The unit in Española is five stories tall.
The first floor of the building has a maze, which can be set up to simulate what it is like to go into a structure fire where there are things like furniture, household products and other items that can be in the way of firefighters as they move throughout the building, Wickersham said. There are burn locations on the first and second floor, as well as a smoke machine.
The two-story section of the building has flat and sloped roofs, as well as an area where firefighters can practice cutting into the sloped roof with a chainsaw.
The five-story section of the building will be used for rope rappelling and rope rescue training, as well as training with the ladder truck. Firefighters will be able to complete the following training: structural firefighting 1, forcible entry, confined space, search and rescue and more.
The opportunity to complete the training, and for rookies and cadets to get this experience before going into a live-fire situation, will help to make the entire community safer, Wickersham said.
He said the fire department also received a $250,000 grant from the New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Office. The money will be used to purchase training props, a propane tank, gas meter, thermal imaging dummy and a car.
Training at the facility will be available to Rio Arriba County volunteer firefighters, Wickersham said. The Taos Fire Department will also attend training at the facility.
“We work really closely with Rio Arriba County, and we hope to do a lot of trainings together with them,” Wickersham said.
Española Fire Department Fire Marshal Pablo Montoya went to Socorro to get certified for live-fire training for the department. Firefighters will still have to go to Socorro if they want to get their Fire 2 certificate, as that is the only location that offers training for flammable liquids, Wickersham said.
The burn building is located at the city’s fire station at 2011 Industrial Park Road, the location of the former National Guard Armory. Wickersham said that it is part of the City of Española’s bigger plan to create a six-bay fire station and training facility at this location. They hope to receive more Capital Outlay funding this year to make this a reality.