Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander, and John Ireland, Grissom Fire Department fire chief, use jaws of life to cut a fire hose while (from left to right) Col. Scott Russell, 434th Mission Support Group commander, Kevin Jefferson, Louisville Army Corps of Engineers representative, Col. Hiram P. Gates, 434th ARW vice commander and Chief Master Sgt. Rob Herman, 434th ARW command chief observe during a ribbon cutting ceremony at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., Nov. 9, 2015. The new facility will help provide firefighters with mandated training requirements. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Mota)
By Douglas Hays, 434th ARW Public Affairs / Published November 10, 2015
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind -- With a pull of the trigger and a snip of a fire hose, base officials officially opened a new fire training facility here November 9.
Standing in for a ribbon was a four-inch piece of scrap fire hose, and pneudraulic shears upped the ante on the scissor portion of the cutting.
Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander, was joined by John Ireland, Grissom fire chief and other base officials as they officially opened the facility.
Moments later two firefighters put on a rappelling demonstration for the crowd of fire fighters, emergency managers, elected officials and others on-hand.
"We have annual training requirements that require live fires twice a year," said Todd Woolf, GFD assistant chief for training.
"Having the updated burn house will allow us to burn more often, and rather than do it twice a year, we can do it whenever we want," he added. "We won't be locked into having to go off base, and worrying about availability."
The $750,000 project expanded the existing facility from 1,600 square feet to about 4,000 square feet.
The facility uses primarily wood and straw as combustibles and has a tower inside that allows members to train in confined space, elevator rescue, forcible entry training and more.
"The panels in the room can withstand temperatures of 2,200-degrees Fahrenheit," Ireland said.
"Being a firefighter in civilian job, it's great to see a top-notch training facility here at Grissom," said Chief Master Sgt. Rob Herman, command chief, and firefighter from Omaha, Nebraska. "At the end of the day having better trained, better equipped firefighters benefits us all."
Not only will Grissom firefighters greatly benefit from the new building, other agencies from different counties will also get good use of the facility.
"All around it's just a better situation for everybody," concluded Woolf. "We have existing mutual aid agreements so other agencies can also train with us."
"Kokomo S.W.A.T. has already used the rappelling portion of the facility," Ireland said.
Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command.
