Fire service training centre to get £1.6m revamp

After the £1.6m upgrade, the centre will be equipped to train up to 600 firefighters each year, managers say

A Wiltshire firefighter training centre is to undergo a £1.6m revamp to enable it to train up to 600 staff a year.

It would also offer more realistic training, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) said.

Planning permission from Wiltshire Council will be needed before the work can begin at the Devizes centre.

Area manager Jason Moncreiff said it will be the only live-fire training site for DWFRS and will offer the best training available.

Once the site has been upgraded it will as short notice training requirements, he explained.

He added: "This includes basic skills courses for new recruits; breathing apparatus courses and revalidations; compartment fire behaviour training and revalidations; road traffic collision courses and updates; and various miscellaneous courses."

The improvements will also include welfare arrangements, changing facilities and teaching space and equipment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'More complex training'

"The drill ground will be improved to provide more realistic training for road traffic collisions," Mr Moncreiff said.

"The smoke house (the building we currently use to train with real fires) is being expanded to allow more complex training to take place, including the training we need for recreating flashover conditions."

"We will be adding a smoke capture system to significantly reduce the volume of smoke that is released by our training into the environment, compared to what is released now."

He explained that the works were approved after the fire service "identified that the training provision for its firefighters need revamping".

"The money being used has come from financial reserves and has been built up over several years," Mr Moncrieff added.