Butler area fire departments practice at new VA training facility
BUTLER TWP — Between smoke, emergency lights and geared-up firefighters, anyone passing by the VA Butler Healthcare campus Monday night, Sept. 29, might have thought crews were battling a fire.
However, the crews from VA Butler Fire and Emergency Services, Butler Township Volunteer Fire District and Butler City Bureau of Fire actually gathered to conduct a joint training session on the VA grounds.
Monday’s training, which was not the first, was still a special occasion. VA Chief Ryan Enscoe said the training serves as the “maiden voyage” of the VA’s recently purchased fire training facility.
“We had the Butler County Fire Chiefs Association come by and use the facility, but none of our guys have,” Enscoe explained.
In July, VA Butler Healthcare announced the construction of a live fire training facility on their campus off New Castle Road at the site of the former domiciliary. It was constructed by Kirila Fire, an Ohio-based company that designs, constructs and repairs fire training facilities internationally.
The facility is three modified shipping containers, with two on the first floor and one as a second floor. Beyond being able to simulate fires, it features numerous training features, including a roof prop, a rappel tower and an upside-down T-shape pipe for confined space rescue practice.
Monday’s group of trainees included about five members of the VA department, about five from the city and around 10 from the township. Enscoe explained that the three departments do joint training monthly as they are almost always called out together.
“Being able to have this right in our yard and have people we work with on a regular basis come and do the training. It’s beneficial for all of us,” Enscoe said.
The crews gathered, trucks included, around 6:30 p.m. They were told the training would simulate a structure fire with inhabitants — rescue dummies — trapped inside. By 7 p.m., training was in full swing as the modified cargo containers began to smoke. All three departments took turns being the first to the scene and inside the building.
Enscoe said he believes the training, even before the facility was built, had paid dividends during real responses as it has made the departments better at working alongside one another.
More than that, he said the departments’ members have also built personal connections, which have blossomed into friendships forged in fire.
“Besides the work, the friendships you form with the people from other crews you get to talk to. It spreads beyond fire and it spreads beyond our work ... At the end of the day, we’re friends with these guys.” Enscoe said.
