Pending Federal Aviation Administration funding and board approval, trainees could learn how to battle aircraft fires at an up to $5 million simulator proposed at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s South Campus.
The simulator would be developed on about 4 acres at the Fire Academy of the South at the South Campus, 11901 Beach Blvd., between St. Johns Bluff Road and Kernan Boulevard.
South Campus is the site of the Jacksonville Regional Fire/Rescue Training and Education Center and offers a bachelor of applied science degree in Fire Science Management.
The “Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Facility” would join the existing maritime “Burn Ship Facility” at the center, which trains firefighters in battling maritime fires. Its address would be along Fire Fighter Memorial Drive.
The “Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Simulator” would simulate airplane fires, according to Larry Snell, college associate vice president of purchasing and business services and also the contracting officer. He said the college has partnered with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority to endorse the project.
Chuck Stratmann, associate vice president of facilities management and construction, said the aircraft fire simulator would simulate a Boeing 737, at 80 feet long and 30 feet in diameter.
The liquefied propane (LP) gas fires would simulate fires in the cabin, fuselage, wing engine, tail engine, cockpit, galley and landing gears, he said.
“We are going to have big balls of fire in a controlled, safe environment,” he said.
Stratmann said the regional training center also will provide safety standards and certification training.
“Right now, there is no facility like this in the Southeast,” he said.
The FAA invited the college to submit a proposal for a matching Airport Improvement Program Grant to build the facility as a regional training center.
The center would include a state-of-the-art burn plane simulator and related site work, according to college information.
The college’s District Board of Trustees will consider a staff recommendation to authorize administrators to enter into a construction contract up to $1.41 million with Kidde Fire Trainers Inc. of Montvale, N.J.
The item is on the consent agenda of the board meeting at 2 p.m. today at the college’s Kent Campus.
Snell said that if FAA funding is appropriated, possibly by July, the work could begin this fall and winter. A timeline for the design and construction shows a possible move-in during 2014 if approvals and funding remain on schedule.
Kidde was the low bidder for the “Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Simulator.” Bid specifications for the simulator design and construction were prepared by RS&H.
Pending board approval, the February grant submittal to the FAA will include the simulator and a second submittal in May will include board-approved bid results for related site work.
As proposed, the college will spend $37,016 for shop drawings and associated engineering. Proceeding with the balance of the $1.4 million contract award is contingent on the college receiving the FAA grant.
If the college receives the grant, construction can start as early as this fall. Without the grant, the project will not proceed.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be less than $5 million. The maximum FAA grant can include $4 million over two years and the college must contribute 25 percent of the grant amount.
The contract award calls for the college to spend $281,835 of Capital Improvement Fee funds as a required match to the potential FAA grant of almost $1.13 million to meet the contract total.
Funds for the shop drawings and required match will come from the college’s Capital Improvement Fee funds.
As reported in the Daily Record in 2010, the Fire Academy of the South provides training and educational opportunities to emergency responders in both the public and private sector. Training levels range from basic skills and certification to advanced education with specific technical training, including shipboard firefighting and aircraft rescue firefighting.
The academy is the only FAA-approved recertification center in Florida.
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