GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Fire Rescue is in major need of upgrades at their training facility. GFFR has struggled to fund their training facility for years.
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Jeremy Jones, Fire Chief of Great Falls Fire Rescue said, “The problem's been going on for many decades. But it came to fruition last fall, in November when the remaining component of our training tower failed.”
Chief Jones explains that the GFFR is requesting up to $2.5 million for renovations, with the goal to spend around $1.9 to $2 million.
Jones said, “There's just no funding in the normal general budget of the city to allow for the infrastructure upgrades at the point that the dilapidation out there has exceeded.”
Insurance services says that the department needs three or more acres of space, and a structure that is more than three stories in height that allows for live fire burning. GFFR hasn’t had that over a decade.
Jones said, “We're not training at the level needed to make sure that the men and women of this department are safe and effective in the emergency response that they give.”
This puts firefighters like Jake Bloom at a disadvantage, because they cannot practice for real world situations often enough.
Bloom said, “We're not able to do any high rise situations. So a lot of stuff that we do out here are simulations.”
Bloom has been with GFFR for 14 months and has only been able to work in a handful of fires.
He noted, “Unless we get a real life fire, we're not able to get live practice reps in.”
Because of this, Bloom has to rely on the book, which live fires tend to disregard.
Bloom said, “You're just relying on what you've been told and what you've been going over, and just hope that that scenario works out for you and that you're prepared for that situation.”
An agenda report has been written up, and the city commission will be discussing it at their meeting next week.
