WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A training center is enabling Polk County firefighters to prepare for emergencies while supporting the area’s rapid growth.
Fire Captain Jon Hall is part of 1,000 men and women who make up Polk County Fire Rescue. He said the department is one of the busiest in Florida, but did not have a dedicated training space.
“We’ve had to borrow places from different organizations to train. Even something as simple as finding a fire hydrant to hook up to, sometimes we just had to find a field on the side of the road in order to do that training,” Hall said.
WATCH: Polk County opens $16 million fire rescue training center amid rapid growth
A new $16 million, state-of-the-art Polk County Fire Rescue training center is officially open in Winter Haven. The 30,000-square-foot facility sits on 15 acres and gives firefighters the ability to train entirely in-house.
“We now have a place that we can all come together. We can train repeatedly until you don’t get it wrong, until you get it perfect. And then when you transfer that to the field for the real emergencies, that’s where the fruits of your labor really show,” Hall said.
The center includes live-fire training props, a driving pad, a five-story burn tower known as the beast of the east for its size, and EMS simulation labs.
“With some of the most state-of-the-art simulation mannequins. They moan, they show pain, they wince, they cry. As you go ahead and do a treatment modality the patient reacts,” said Polk County Fire Rescue Chief Shawn Smith.
Smith said the center is already training about 100 students and believes the new facility will help attract even more recruits amid a staffing shortage.
“We’ve noticed a great uptick in our recruiting and in our hiring. We’ve hired about 305 people over the last year and a half. The word is getting out,” Smith said.
Helping the department keep pace as Polk County continues to grow.
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Rebecca Petit is dedicated to telling your stories from every corner of Polk County. She knows how growth has been a major discussion point for the area, and the impact it’s had on some of our most vulnerable populations. You can connect with Rebecca by using the form below.
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