The Columbus Fire Department is updating its training grounds by adding a search and rescue and confined space area.
Columbus Board of Works approved a $7,500 contract from Southern Indiana Earthworks for work on the project.
The area will provide additional layouts for firefighters to master searching skills and built-in props such as forced entry, entanglement and floor collapse scenarios, according to firefighters
The department is partnering with Indiana Department of Homeland Security and receives a grant each year through a partnership with the Evolution training facility in Columbus, Columbus Fire Chief Andy Lay said.
The department plans to use four shipping containers and a grain bin as props for the search and rescue and confined space area.
“They’ll (the containers) be in a cube-shaped form, so we need good footing underneath that,” he said. “So what we’re looking for is to pour some footers for our grain bin and our four shipping containers. This will make it safe for us and allow them not to sink the property.”
Per the project document, the containers will be placed on nine concrete pillars that are 3 feet wide by 5 feet deep, fixed to the pads and welded together for stability and safety.
A concrete pad will be poured next to the cube and the confined space tank, which is already on site, will be secured to the pad, firefighters said. The tank will be used for confined space drills.
On the west side of the cube, dirt will be placed as an area for practicing low angle evacuations. Within the approximately 9-foot-high dirt mound there will also be several tunnels to serve as additional confined space areas.
In discussing the bid, Lay added that a conflict of interest agreement will need to be signed regarding Southern Indiana Earthworks. “This is a firefighter who has a side business,” he explained. “We did some road work with this last year.”
