The Chaparral property along Airport Road became available and the city of Weatherford purchased this in August, 2020.
Weatherford Fire Chief Mike Karlin said this was possible because of partnerships, combined efforts and teamwork through businesses, SWOSU and Police Chief Louis Flowers.
“You cannot do anything by yourself,” Karlin said. “We began talking with SWOSU about some of their programs they offer for first responders through the cleat program and their wildlife programs. SWOSU and Police Chief Louis Flowers also have been on board. Devon Energy and EnLink Midstream also have been key to this happening. Our hope is this will provide additional income for our fire departments.”
While there is no official name for the property, it is known as the Weatherford Regional Public Training Facility and it is intended to be a training faciluty all first responders, not just firefighters.
“Training first responders is a huge need,” Karlin said. “There is a shortage of first responders and we need more first responders nationally. The facility is set up great for training. This took lots of time, planning and effort. The building is around 17,000 square feet and has lots of office space.”
The first class took place in September 2020. The area is nine acres, has fencing and a runoff to where the fire stays in one area when they practice training in case a real fire breaks out while on duty. Karlin said there is some fencing around the area.
A burn tower also has been recently built. A burn tower provides a simulation fire in the tower and firefighters go into the building to put out fires and do many types of rescue simulations. There are instructors who go inside the building as well.
When the fire starts, the individuals being trained to be firefighters watch and see how a fire begins and builds. It gets up to 800 degrees inside and they are able to see how the smoke changes and when to stay down in cooler areas. Once the training is complete, they are shown and get experience in extinguishing the fire.
“This is a huge asset for us and we are very fortunate to have this burn tower,” Karlin said. “Actual live fire training in a facility like this is huge. So many times, we see a firefighter go into a live fire situation and have never had proper training with a live fire. This allows them to have experience to see how a fire reacts in certain situations. We use this multiple times a month and are able to do all types of training in there. Lots of our neighboring departments have used this and the Corn Fire Department will be here this Saturday to do training.”
These burn towers are limited, as there are only five other burn towers in western Oklahoma.
There is one in Altus, Elk City, Enid and Lawton.
Karlin said nearly every single first responder industry within a 25 mile radius of Weatherford wants to use this facility, as they feel it is a great asset to the community.
“We are excited about the interest these departments have had in the facility,” Karlin said. “Since we have started this, we have had interest from fire stations and EMS.”
Karlin said there have been firefighters who have come out from places as far as Keyes, Oklahoma, which is a small town in the panhandle and from Quapaw, a small town in Northeastern Oklahoma.
There have been classes at the facility and Karlin said he wants there to be two career paths. There are some college classes which are offered at the facility too.
“SWOSU offers degree programs, such as the CLEET program and the wildfire program,” Karlin said. “The wildfire program is an associate’s degree and the CLEET program is a bachelor’s degree. There are some people who do not want to invest in the time to get an education, but are ready to get trained and go into the workforce. We will have the chance to train people to be firefighters and medics without the degree.”
Since COVID-19, there has been a huge drop in First responders. In order to get more people, Karlin said they want to get people and kids educated about public safety and first responders.
“Another thing we are focusing on is educating the kids in public schools about public safety,” Karlin said. “We do lots of fun things at times, but we do deal with lots of bad stuff. We want to go into schools and spark their interest in what we do. We have to have good first responders in our society.”
Fire departments indeed are hurting for money, because 85 percent of firefighters in Oklahoma are volunteer.
“Fire departments have very limited funds and want to provide training to those folks at little to no cost as best as we can,” Karlin said. “We are looking at every avenue we can to push funding.” Oklahoma did receive 3 billon of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 from COVID-19. Out of that $3 billon, $1.8 billion was set aside for entities in which they can apply for.
“The crazy thing is, is this money is for any type of project, but it has to be tied to COVID-19,” Karlin said. “We have submitted an application and our application, we wrote about how we are seeing a decline in first responders. We asked for $6 million of this money. If we receive this grant, it will pay for the equipment and additional facilities needed to do all the types of training I discussed previously. We are very hopeful and the process is a committee of legislatures who reviewed the application. Once it is reviews, we will go to the state and plea our case as to why we need this money. SWOSU also has applied for the grant too.”