Fayetteville Technical Community College broke ground on Oct. 1 on the second construction phase at the Dr. J. Larry Keen Regional Fire & Emergency Training Complex. The ceremony marked eight years of ongoing developments on the 30-acre campus that have improved and expanded FTCC’s training capacity.
Vincent Lewis, Director of Fire Rescue Training at Fayetteville Technical Community College, said leaders initiated the development of the complex in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew. At that time, the Cumberland County Commissioners and Cumberland County Fire Chief’s Association identified a need to expand training opportunities for fire departments in Cumberland County and the surrounding regions.
Until then, FTCC didn’t have its own training facility and depended on other training facilities in the area. Planners spent time traveling the country to look at different facilities as part of the design process, and as a result, Phase 1 of the training complex opened on Sept. 19, 2022.
Phase 1 included a 24,000-square-foot classroom building with seven classrooms, administrative offices, and locker rooms; a bay with fire trucks for entry-level firefighter training; a four-story technical rescue tower for teaching rope rescue; a four-story burn building built to reflect commercial or apartment buildings; confined space rescue trenches; and a Cumberland County Emergency Services Memorial that honors fallen Cumberland County service workers.
In December of 2023, FTCC’s swift water rescue training center opened, which Lewis called Phase 1.5 of the training complex developments.
The swift water rescue facility is one of only three of its kind in the United States. Its indoor tank measures 40 feet by 80 feet, making it the largest of all three. It boasts 140,000 gallons of water, ten pumps, and the ability to generate a 28-mile-per-hour flow. Any swift water training can be conducted there, except training using powerboats.
Lewis shared that the swift water rescue facility was not part of the original plan. With time, the need was identified and funding was available, leading to its addition. He added that it has seen over 900 students come through its doors since January of this year. Swift water rescue students have hailed from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida.
“We’re kind of pulling from all over the country,” he explained.
Phase 2 will see the expansion of the burn building sites with a two-story live-burn apartment-style tower, designed to reflect popular garden-style apartments and a one-story residential live-burn building in the style of a 2000 square foot ranch, which Lewis referred to as the most common style of house in America.
It will also include a permanent location and support buildings for an aircraft live-burn simulator and a 500-square-foot flammable liquids pit, which can function with the aircraft simulator or be used separately to teach ground cover or flammable liquid spill firefighting techniques.
Lewis says they’ve seen various agencies use the training complex, including fire departments, EMS rescue squads, law enforcement agencies, military personnel, and industrial complexes. He said the development of this facility means the college is essentially self-sufficient when it comes to training, whereas previously, they depended heavily on local fire departments to provide training equipment like trucks, hoses, and ladders.
He hopes the ongoing developments will continue to attract trainees from inside and outside the region and expand enrollment in FTCC’s related programs, given the unique variety of training experiences they can offer.
Upon completing Phase 2, they will start offering classes related to aircraft fires and work with airports nationwide that want to conduct initial and recertification fire training there. He also cited the variety of burn buildings in one location—from single-family to apartment to commercial—as a rare opportunity, saying,
"There are very few places, I think, in the country that have that variety, and that's really exciting,” Lewis said.
Lewis encouraged the community to find FTCC Fire, Rescue and Swift Water Training on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FTCCFire/ and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ftcc_fire/ to keep up with the construction developments and the training that first responders receive there.
The final phase of the Dr. J. Larry Keen Regional Fire & Emergency Training Complex should open in August 2025.