Staff Writer
FSCJ Academy will strive to be best ‘in the universe’
Plains, trains, automobiles and ships travel in and around Jacksonville – “America’s Logistics Center” – daily and the public should be able to rest easy knowing that the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will have the ability to train on just about every mode of transportation in its own back yard.
City and Florida State College at Jacksonville leaders met Wednesday to officially open a new building on the grounds of the college’s Fire Academy of the South on Firefighter Memorial Drive at the South Campus of the college off Beach Boulevard. The facility is equipped with a burn pit, burn building and railroad car firefighting simulator, and will soon have the ability to train on aircraft and ship simulators.
“This facility provides an incredible opportunity for education and training for many different entities,” said Elly Byrd, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) Training Division Chief. “It can offer everything in one place, from firefighting to EMS training. It helps with continuity, and cost, by being able to offer different kinds of training in one place.”
Wednesday’s ceremony officially opened the newly remodeled 13,600-square-foot classroom and administration building created to support the college. Renovations updated four classrooms, conference rooms, individual office space for JFRD staff leadership and FSCJ Fire Academy leadership, shared office space for 14-16 JFRD staff, staff lounge area, student lounge area and kitchen. The Design team was Schenkel Shultz Architecture and the contractor was Auld & White Constructors, with the building renovations completed Dec. 7.
“Our vision for the Fire Academy of the South, we jokingly call it the Fire Academy of the Universe, is to be the premiere fire training facility in the United States,” said Dr. Steven Wallace, president of FSCJ. “When we are finished with the development of this facility, in full partnership with Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, we will have a burn pit, burn building, burn ship and a burn plane, in addition to the recently renovated emergency medical services facilities. That allows us to be one of only three places in America that has that full range of capabilities and we will be the newest and we will be the best.”
Wallace also pointed out that JFRD will not be alone in the classrooms of the newly renovated facilities. Fire companies from the Caribbean and other foreign countries have expressed interest in attending the facility, he said.
“In a way, it’s international and then if we could find the interplanetary connection, we could be truly universal,” joked Wallace. “We have made the commitment that every firefighter in outer space will be trained here.”
The vision for the academy was received with a round of applause from those in attendance, and it was just as well received as the support the City has given the vision.
“This is a celebration of a partnership and a celebration of the vision of what this academy hopes to become,” said Mayor John Peyton. “I’ve known Steve long before serving as mayor, and one thing Steve has brought to Jacksonville with the job of leading this school is extraordinary vision. It’s not only a glossy picture, but the components of what make that picture a reality.”
One of those components is JFRD Director Dan Kleman, who was proud of what the partnership has accomplished for the City of Jacksonville.
“We share an interest in building, simply, one of the best fire and rescue departments in America in every way one might judge that,” said Kleman. “Our ability to train our people, to meet any kind of eventuality, is what this facility and the capacity that it brings, lends to our vision to simply being one of the best.”
The completion of the Academy’s Maritime Fire Simulator and Support Building will also contribute to that vision. The facility is scheduled to open in August and contain two classrooms for field-based activities, locker room and shower facility, fire simulator with multiple levels and cargo options and pond and water drafting tanks to allow simulation of waterside fire fighting and water drafting. The total budget for the project is $3.71 million. The design team is Reynolds, Smith and Hill Architects and Tactical Design. The contractor is Perry-McCall Construction.
356-2466