Bradenton is building taller buildings. This will help firefighters train for taller fires

As development continues to flourish in Manatee County, with a trend toward vertical construction in particular, firefighters have not had much ability to train for potential highrise emergencies in the past two years.

A bill being sponsored by Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, looks to change that. He is asking the Florida Legislature for $1 million for a new four-story fire training tower at Cedar Hammock Fire Control District’s training facility off of 53rd Avenue West in southern Manatee County.

The existing training tower was condemned two years ago. Originally built as wooden repelling tower in the early 1990s, it has been bolstered for use over the years, but its time has come and gone.

“Its reached its useful life,” said Fire Chief Jeffrey Hoyle. “It’s deteriorated over time and we haven’t been able to use it for the past couple of years.”

Nine area fire districts and two light technical rescue teams use the Cedar Hammock training facility, which consists of a multistory “survival maze” mobile home facility, gas fire simulation area and other essential training opportunities.

It sounds like a lot of money, but the new concrete “tower” won’t necessarily be a tower.

The renderings more accurately depict a multilevel building with interior and exterior stairwells complete with balconies, “to simulate highrise fires,” Hoyle said. “With all the planned construction, we will have some highrises coming soon and currently have five-story condos and other multistory buildings.”

Annual emergency calls are increasing on average between 5-8 percent per year across the districts. Hoyle said the tower will be built regardless and is in the design phase, but the state funding will help the district meet other goals. Since Hoyle took the helm in 2013, his mission has been to get his fire department’s staffing back to where it was prior to the economic downturn forcing staff reductions.

“It would be very helpful to us,” Hoyle said. “We are growing our workforce and Cedar Hammock runs the most calls in the county. We put together a five-year plan in 2014 to get our workforce back up and we’ve had to replace a majority of our fleet, as well purchase a ladder truck, which we haven’t had since the early 2000s.

“We still need to get a couple more firefighters per shift, up to six more, so we if get the state funding, it frees up dollars to do that and will bolster our workforce to get ready for all the development coming to our district.”

Rep. Gregory’s office released a statement noting, “The tower is a training center, with commercial and residential training, allowing for a better ISO score — which is a factor in homeowner insurance rates.”

Hoyle said the bill would be a helpful relief to local taxpayers while helping the district to increase its workforce and future readiness.

House Buill 2417 is currently in the Appropriations Committee.

The bill has received unanimous support across the fire districts, whose firefighters would benefit from the available training opportunities. Bradenton Fire Chief Chuck Edwards said in a letter of support that the tower, “would be tremendously beneficial to the department and all we serve.”

It’s not just fire districts supporting the bill. Whiting Preston, president of the Manatee Fruit Company said it’s a safety issue. Preston is developing the planned Lake Flores community near Cedar Hammock’s training facility.

“Safety is a major concern for the community and having a facility for the first responders to conduct valuable training in a multi-floor development is crucial for the security of those who are in need during emergency situations,” Preston said.

This story was originally published March 13, 2019 at 6:00 AM.