The Kiel Fire Department is now using a new tool to help train firefighters.
The department held a ceremony on Sunday (September 27th), unveiling its new training tower, years in the making.
Second Lieutenant Jacob Roeck thanked everyone who helped raise money for the tower, from city staff, businesses, and the Ant Hill Mob, who fundraised over $23,000 to help the project get started.
Kiel Fire Lieutenant Kyle Preissner tells Seehafernews.com that the training tower allows firefighters to practice life-saving techniques in safe, controlled settings.
“From the beginning, it’s been a great (way) to bring out community together and they really rallied behind our project,” he described. “It’s been great to see it really come from the ground up.”
Two years before fundraising began, Preissner says the department’s training tower committee traveled across eastern Wisconsin to see how other departments used their own training towers.
Now they’ll use the tower for multiple types of training for newer and older firefighters.
“We can practice with our aerial ladder, setting up for a three-story building,” he noted. “We can do a first, second, or third floor fire attack. We’re also going to practice firefighter rescue, possibly technical rescue, in case we need to rescue one of our own.”
Even before their ceremony, Preissner adds that the new training tower has already been put to use.
“We have had one department-wide drill out here with ladders,” he explained. “Our aerial ladder truck was set up all the way to the top. Then the committee actually came out here, and we did our first burn. So, we were able to get to the top of the room. We were able to get several hundred degrees of heat within about seven minutes. We had smoke through the entire building in about seven and a half, nine minutes. So it’s been a really great experience putting it all together and really getting that first burn.”
The entire project cost around $55,000.
