North Port Fire Rescue cuts ribbon on new training tower

North Port Fire Rescue cut the ribbon on its new fire training tower Friday, marking the start of new training opportunities and more effective response.

North Port Fire Rescue (NPFR) personnel, City leadership and guests from surrounding fire rescue departments joined to celebrate the opening of a facility years in the making.

The modular building features burn rooms, confined space training areas and rooms simulated to look like a kitchen, dining room, bedroom and more. It will be used by personnel for tactical rescue team training, live fire and for honing other skills. The training area in total is 9,630 square feet.

"This is a project 25 years in the making from initial proposal to project completion, and the list of people that contributed to its success is long," North Port Fire Chief Scott Titus said. "This project will provide an incredible return on investment to our community and neighboring communities as a regional training location to meet and train with our mutual aid partners to ensure efficient and effective responses for the emergencies we encounter on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to getting our crews inside to continue prepare for the high risk, low frequency calls that can lead to tragedy if our members are not prepared."

The total cost of the training tower is $2 million, with most paid by Surtax dollars, and around 35 percent paid through Fire Rescue District funds. Sarasota County voters recently showed their support for the penny tax by voting to continue it in the 2022 election.

The building - comprised of stacked shipping containers - was pieced together in just a few days. It's located at 6664 W. Price Blvd. Previously, NPFR had to travel a half hour to Englewood's training facility, putting crews out of service for extended periods of time. With the training tower in North Port, crews can remain in service and respond to calls immediately.

"This training tower will prove to be a valuable asset for North Port Fire Rescue for many years to come," City Manager Jerome Fletcher said. "Having a building which can accommodate live fire training and much more right here in our City is invaluable."

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