Gaston Fire & Rescue Breaks Ground on New Training Complex

Gaston Fire & Rescue has broken ground on a new training complex in the field at the department. Over the coming months, the site will take shape as two multilevel training structures built from shipping containers, each designed for a different kind of work.

For about a decade, members have trained in the department's former fire station. Crews have used the building for search drills, rapid intervention team training, and rope exercises through floors and windows. A single shipping container has served as the department's live-fire training area. That setup has helped members practice close to home, but it limits the number and type of scenarios crews can run.

The first new structure will be a two-story live-fire building made from approximately seven containers. Its rooms and levels will let firefighters practice first-floor, second-floor, and basement fire scenarios, along with search operations and fire attack. Crews will train with real smoke and fire in a controlled setting built around conditions they may face in the Gaston area.

Across the complex, a second structure will provide a separate, fire-free training environment. Planned at approximately 14 containers, several stories, and about 40 feet tall, it will support rappelling, rope-rescue pickoffs, high-line operations, and other technical rescue work.

No live fire will take place in the larger structure. Members will be able to practice rapid intervention team operations, entanglement emergencies, firefighter bailouts, and search drills without the carcinogen contamination associated with live-fire training.

Neighboring agencies will also be able to use the complex for joint exercises. The shared site will give departments room to train together for the fires, rescues, and other incidents they may face together.

The project is being funded with proceeds from the sale of former department properties. Those funds are being put directly into training space for Gaston Fire & Rescue members and neighboring departments.

Breaking ground is the first visible step. In the months ahead, the open field will become a training site for structure fires, firefighter emergencies, and technical rescues, all in one location.