pnbspph1 classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleTitlequotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleTitlequotquotquotquotquotquotquotDanbury considers regional fire training schoolh1p–subtitle–pdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleSubTitlequotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleSubTitlequotquotquotquotquotquotquotSite could train area townsdivp–byline–pdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleBylinequotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleBylinequotquotquotquotquotquotquota classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleBylinequotquotquotquotquotquotquot danburyquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquot considersquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquot regionalquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquot firequotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquot trainingquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquotquot hrefquotquotquotquotquotquotquotmailtodperrefortnewstimes.comsubjectNewsTimes.comquotquotquotquotquotquotfont color000000By Dirk Perrefortbr Staff Writerfontadivp–date–pdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleDatequotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleDatequotquotquotquotquotquotquotArticle Last Updatednbsp10202008 061444 AM ESTdivdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticlePositionHeaderquotquotquotquotquotquotquotnbspnbspdivdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleBodyquotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleBodyquotquotquotquotquotquotquotdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleViewerGroupquotquotquotquotquotquotquot idquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticleViewerGroupquotquotquotquotquotquotquotdiv classquotquotquotquotquotquotquotarticlePosition1quotquotquotquotquotquotquotDANBURY — State and local officials like the idea of a regional fire training school that could be used by area towns.divdivpDanbury Fire Chief Geoff Herald discussed establishing such a school Friday during a meeting of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials which voted unanimously to support the proposal.ppquotHaving a regional school would allow all the departments in the area to have a better working relationshipquot Herald said.ppquotAs time goes on we are going to have to depend on each other more and more. This will save each municipality both time and money.quotppHe added the Danbury departments training facility on Plumtrees Road could be used for the regional school. It has a concrete quotburn housequot that the city refurbished about two years ago and a large concrete slab that is used for vehicle extrication exercises.ppMany fire departments in the region already use the facility.ppIf the plan moves forward Herald said a trailer on the property thats used as a classroom could eventually be replaced with a permanent year-round building.ppOther training equipment including a tower training facility that could be used to simulate a variety of conditions firefighters face could also be built on the site.ppHerald said at this point officials are just looking for the regional training school designation which requires action by the state legislature. Funding could follow. No cost estimates were available at this early stage.ppAdam Piskura director of fire training for the state said there are seven regional training facilities in Connecticut. The closest one to Danbury is in Fairfield.ppPiskura said a regional approach to training is favored because its more efficient.ppquotIts great cross-trainingquot said Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Chief Tim Pambianchi whose firefighters were training at the Plumtrees Road facility on Saturday.ppquotBeing able to use this smokehouse enables more training more frequently … and the city of Danbury has been very accommodating in allowing us to train here and that allows both fire departments to integrate so they know what each other is capable ofquot he added.ppBill Halstead the fire marshal in Newtown said he fully supports the proposal.ppquotIts something thats definitely needed in the areaquot he said. quotRight now we have to travel quite a distance to get to a regional school.ppquotIf we had one in Danbury and there was a large-scale incident in our town we could be on the scene within 15 minutes.quotppHe added that having a regional training center would also help departments in the region coordinate their services.ppquotFirefighters from different departments could train together and utilize each others resourcesquot he said. quotEveryone gets to work together.quotppDeputy House Speaker Robert Godfrey D-Danbury said he looks forward to working with local fire officials and legislators to bring the proposal to Hartford.ppBecause lawmakers expect a difficult budget year quotwe will be looking for smart growth regionalizing effortsquot and quoteconomies of scale.quotppquotIntermunicipal cooperation has all the makings of the kind of model we will wantquot he said. quotI cant see anyone objecting to this kind of thing.quotppContact Dirk Perrefortppat a hrefquotquotquotquotquotquotquotmailtodperrefortnewstimes.comquotquotquotquotquotquotquotdperrefortnewstimes.comappor at 203 731-3358.ppStory Courtesy of the Danbury News-Timesppbr nbsppdiv
