Fayetteville’s new Swift Water Rescue Training Facility puts Cumberland County and the Cape Fear region at the forefront of emergency services training and response.
Fayetteville Technical Community College constructed the uniquely equipped indoor facility, the first of its kind on the East Coast and the nation’s second, to provide much-needed swift water rescue training for first responders locally and beyond.
The state-of-the-art complex opened its doors with a ribbon cutting in November 2023 and a grand opening this past January.
The facility contains a 140,000-gallon indoor tank and is the nation’s largest swift water complex. Fathom Tanks of Georgetown, TX, manufactured the tank here and for the training center in Texas, the only other state with an indoor facility.
Equipped with 10 pumps that can flow at up to 7 knots, the tank allows first responders and others to train year-round for rescues in floods, swift water situations and other scenarios. Before the SWRTF’s completion, local emergency personnel had no option but to train outdoors. As FTCC Fire, Technical Rescue & Water Instructor Steve White attests, the SWRTF’s launch has been a real game-changer.
“I, along with instructor Michael Barcia, have been teaching water rescue for 15-plus years … on the Cape Fear River. Now, we have an indoor facility where we can control all the variables. We control the speed of the water, the height of the water, the temperature of the water, we can make it night, we can make it day, I can make it rain, thunderstorm lightning, everything inside this building. I'm not at the mercy of the water level of the Cape Fear River. This facility has revolutionized our training methods and has inspired us to push the boundaries of our teaching.”
The river can be dangerous for the trainers — White, Barcia and a part-time cadre of four additional water rescue instructors — and trainees, but the blue way can also be less than desirable in other ways, as White highlighted with a recent example.
“I just took 14 wildlife officers from the mountains to the coast from North Carolina and did a boat operator class, a kind of a refresher class on boat operations on the Cape Fear River. The only place to get moving water on Cape Fear River is at Lock and Dam number two, just below Elizabethtown. When we went last week, the water was so low that the boat dock was sitting on the ground, and the water was just a foot and a half past that. It was that low. Plus, a seven-foot alligator was sitting down there.”
While the indoor tank may be considered the facility’s greatest attribute, other standout features include:
• Year-round training in clean, filtered water
• Controllable water level, current, flow, direction and temperature
• Ability to train with real submerged vehicles
• Realistic lightning, thunder, rain, police sirens and lights
• Obstacles and rescue challenges, including night rescue simulations.
• Central location along 1-95
Cumberland County Commissioner Jimmy Keefe weighed in on the SWRTF’s many pluses.
“As a county commissioner, one of the greatest responsibilities is keeping the public safe. Hurricanes Matthew and Florence taught us that being highly trained and prepared is a choice. I said during the storms, ‘The citizens do not blame us for the hurricane; they appreciate the rescue, but we will be judged based on our response and recovery.’ During Hurricane Matthew, there were over 130 water rescues of citizens by first responders. This facility will train first responders from our area and throughout the southeast on the best practices of rescue in swift water and standing water situations.”
Keefe credited Fire Chief Freddy Johnson, Sr., President of the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs Association, as a catalyst for the center.
Johnson emphasized that the new controlled-and-conditioned facility offers a level of safety that was once unobtainable, providing first responders with the best possible training environment. He worked with officials to build the facility after visiting a similar indoor training facility in Texas a few years ago.
Plans initially called for an 88,000-gallon simulation tank here, but the vision grew following the visit.
“Having a local indoor swift water training complex here in Cumberland County that is one of a kind on the East Coast means that first responders in the area have access to specialized training and certification opportunities,” Johnson said. “This facility plays a crucial role in preparing them to handle swift water emergencies and, ultimately, helps ensure the safety and well-being of the community they serve.”
The facility offers numerous classes during the week and on weekends and has received over 350 students this year. Emergency personnel have come from as far away as the Newport Fire Department in New Jersey to New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on the East Coast, plus a group from Kentucky is scheduled for later this year. White said they had trained students from the wildlife division, law enforcement, fire and rescue and all military branches.
The first full week of each month, the SWRTF offers a North Carolina technical rescuer certification class, the most in-demand course it provides. Other classes include basic submerged vehicle rescue, night submerged vehicle rescue, and advanced day and night courses.
The state-of-the-art Swift Water Rescue Training facility is on FTCC’s 30-acre Dr. J. Larry Keen Fire & Rescue Training complex at 775 Tom Starling Road in Fayetteville. It is one of the most recent additions to the circa-2022 campus, which includes a technical rescue facility with a four-story training tower, simulation labs, locker rooms, apparatus bays and offices; an area for trench collapse training and other confined space training; a rappelling tower with zip-line capacity; and a memorial plaza. Two additional burn buildings are currently under construction.
FTCC, the city, state and county are major supporters and funders of the project. The project received its acreage and $10 million from the county, $10 million in state bond money and $20 million from the General Assembly. Once complete, the entire complex is estimated to cost around $47 million.
Johnson expressed gratitude for the Swift Water facility. “I want to thank FTCC, especially Dr. Larry Keen, former FTCC president and visionary leader, who championed the creation of our cutting-edge Swift Water Center and state-of-the-art Regional Fire and Rescue Training Center.
"Today, under the guidance of current President Dr. Mark Sorrells, this one-of-a-kind facility stands as a testament to our commitment to excellence in first responder training. Our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Keen and Dr. Sorrells for their invaluable contributions in ensuring our first responders receive the highest training and certifications.”

(Photo: Fayetteville Technical Community College's Swift Water Training Center is one of two such facilities in the entire country. The facility can provide real-life scenarios with a multitude of different factors to help train fire and rescue teams as well as military personnel. Photos courtesy of FTCC)