A new $332,200 fire simulator will be made possible through a Jobs and Education (JET) grant from the Texas Workforce Commission. (Miguel Roberts/Valley Morning Star)
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HARLINGEN – Screams erupt from a flaming house, fire exploding through windows, roofs shuddering, black smoke rushing
Firefighters charge toward the inferno with masks and ventilators and thick coats with a skill made possible only through training.
How do they get that training?
Here in Harlingen, students of the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District’s Firefighters Academy will soon begin training at a fire simulator.
A groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning heralded the new facility at the City of Harlingen Fire Administration Center at 24200 N. Farm-to-Market Road 509. Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell, Harlingen Fire Chief Rafael Balderas and Superintendent Alicia Noyola attended the event along with city firefighters and students of the Firefighters Academy.
“Today we’re celebrating the kickoff to bring this fire simulator to reality here in our community,” Boswell said. “Our first responders and our emergency personnel and our firefighters deserve an enormous amount of credit for being an important part of this partnership to bring up this next generation of firefighters.”
Boswell was referring to the partnership between the school district and the city which has provided many opportunities, the latest being the simulator. The new $332,200 structure has been made possible by a JET grant (Jobs and Education for Texans) from the Texas Workforce Commission.
Noyola spoke at length about the partnership in which city firefighters have taught cadets at the Firefighters Academy.
“On a daily basis, our City of Harlingen firefighters come to HCISD to instruct our students in the various firefighting skills that are required for certification including fire suppression,” Noyola said. “However, there has always been one skill that we have not been able to do onsite and that is working through a live burn.”
Firefighters and Academy cadets have had to travel to Edinburg for that piece of training. However, once the structure is completed – in about four months – firefighters will be able to train in the live burn scenario here in Harlingen.
Balderas said the new training structure will be great for both the school district and the fire department.
“It’s state-of-the-art and we’re going to be able to do our own thing here in the City of Harlingen,” he said. “We will not only have Class A burns here but we’ll also have forcible entry practicing, breaching walls. Ventilation, rappelling, those are some of the skills. Search and rescue. Along with ladder training.”
The structure will be used not only for training new firefighters but also for continuous education of veteran firefighters.
