August 21, 2012

Fire Training Center on DVD

The City's state-of-the-art Fire Training facility at Fire Station No. 55 took center stage at Monday's City Council meeting as Council members viewed the video promoting the facility at Shirk and Ferguson.

The training facility has attracted students from as far away as Japan and Australia. The Visalia Fire Department has hosted law enforcement SWAT teams, California Department of Transportation, and various college fire academies at the facility. It includes a classroom with seating for 40 students, a 16-room training structure, and drill yard. The structure also features a four-story tower with anchors for rappelling, four live fire simulators, smoke machines, and a building collapse room. A variety of classes have been offered, including Hazardous Materials Operations, Emergency Vehicles Operators Course, Firefighter Survival, Vehicle Extraction, as well as Chaplain and Honor Guard academies.

The video was produced by Firefighter Franklin Franzen, Battalion Chief Darrin Hughes and Danika Heatherly with the Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau. To view the video, click here.

See more from Inside City Hall

Council Honors Olympian Brooke Crain

The City Council paid tribute to Olympic BMX rider Brooke Crain, who competed at the London Olympics and now has her sights set on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Crain, 19, lives in Visalia at her parent's home when she's not training at the USA BMX tracks near San Diego. Crain got to the Olympics at the last minute when another rider was injured and was she was the only American to reach the women's finals. The public can see her race her 20-inch-wheel bike she used in London on Oct. 19-21 at the Fresno BMX track in Woodward Park.