Putnam County Technical Center students train at the Hurricane Fire & Rescue Regional Training Center.
The Hurricane Fire Station on Midland Trail is more than a facility designed to meet the current and future needs of the local area. The $6 million, 20,000 square foot facility includes a classroom that can accommodate more than sixty individuals. The likelihood of Hurricane Fire & Rescue ever having sixty individuals in need of training at one sitting is nil.
The sleeping quarters of the facility provides for a some-time-in-the-future 12 paid, full-time first responders. The large classroom is not for projected Hurricane Fire & Rescue training needs. The large classroom was part of the station’s design because Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards and others envisioned Hurricane Fire & Rescue training first responders from other locales. The design was formulated by Williamson Shriver Architects in 2021 with the thought of Hurricane Fire & Rescue providing regional training.
On Thursday, March19th, Edwards posted on Facebook an action video of students enrolled in the Fire and EMT program at Putnam County Technical Career Center receiving the training which was envisioned five years ago. Without the Hurricane facility, PCTC students would be forced to travel to a distant facility (perhaps out of state) to receive quality instruction.
“The Fire Station was built with the intent that it would be a regional training center,” Edwards said. “I chose Paul Niedbalski to head Hurricane Fire & Rescue because of his background is training. He served Charleston Fire Department in that capacity.”
The City of Hurricane applied for and received Municipal Home Rule status in 2020. Home Rule generated over $1.7 million in 2022 from a 1% sales tax to provide the funding for Hurricane Fire & Rescue and the development of Bridge Park. The sales tax continues to pay off the bond obligations which funded construction at both the Fire Station and at Bridge Park.
The City has been enabled to fund additional training aids for the regional center through $263,000 in grants from the State for regional facilities.
