East Manatee district honors late commissioner with fire training tower

Firefighters in East Manatee now have a new facility for everyday training.

On Saturday, the East Manatee Fire Rescue District unveiled its new Glenn A. Davis Fire Training Tower, named after a late fire commissioner who “had a heart for training.”

More than 100 firefighter personnel from surrounding areas and community members attended the tower’s grand opening. During the event, a plaque was presented to Davis’ family, attendees explored the tower and firefighters demonstrated how it would be utilized with a rescue exercise.

The dedication plaque will be affixed to one of the tower’s ground-level entry doors, according to East Manatee Fire Rescue District Chief Lee Whitehurst.

“Long after I’m gone and long after the other firefighters here are gone, the new guys will look at that plaque and ask who Glenn Davis is, and that’s a special thing,” he said.

Many of the speakers told stories of their fondest memories with Davis. They said he didn’t mince words when training wasn’t going the way it should, but he was a respectable man and a pleasure to be around.

“He was a firefighter’s firefighter,” said Whitehurst. “He was the guy you’d want to go down the hallway with — usually behind him.”

Whitehurst called the new structure an important tool in the training of his personnel. Bob Conley, chairman of the fire board, echoed that sentiment.

“One of our endeavors always was to have our own in-house training facility, as far as a drill tower. It’s the type of place where they can keep up on their everyday skills,” Conley said. “There’s nothing more important than a trained firefighter.”

One of the perks of having a training tower on-site is that firefighters won’t have to stray too far away from the station as they train, Conley said. It also allows a more flexible schedule without having to rely on Manatee Technical Institute’s facilities.

The five-story tower replicates many different structures that a firefighter might face — multi-story apartment condos, commercial buildings and single-family homes — Whitehurst said.

Conley added that while the $850,000 tower will be used primarily for his own firefighters, he welcomes other local departments to take advantage of the addition, as well.

Davis’ family participated in the event also. His widow and children stood alongside firefighters during the ribbon cutting, which the fire rescue district conducts with the decoupling of two red fire hoses.

According to Whitehurst, the tower took six months to build due to a slight Hurricane Irma delay. He said when it came time to dedicate the building, Davis’ name made the most sense.

“It was a training-themed operation and (Davis) had a heart for training. It just made the most sense,” Whitehurst said. “If he were still on the board, I guarantee he’d be leading the charge for this sort of thing.”

Before beginning his post as fire commissioner in 1986, Davis trained firefighters in the City of Bradenton Fire Department.

The training tower was designed and constructed by Willis Smith, a local construction company. A spokesman said that of the 15 subcontractors hired, 14 of them were Bradenton or Sarasota residents.

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 2:59 PM with the headline "East Manatee district honors late commissioner with fire training tower."