Tompkins County officials said on July 22 they will pursue a planning process to replace the county’s aging fire training facility after chiefs said the burn building can no longer be used for live‑fire training.

Justin Van, who briefed the committee, described the existing site — a Pier Road facility used under a city partnership — as lacking safe live‑burn capability (the burn building is largely concrete and is no longer safe to burn in), classroom capacity, storage, decontamination space and space for apparatus. “We can no longer train Tompkins County firefighters in live burn scenarios in this facility,” he told the committee.

Chiefs and staff outlined desired features for a new emergency‑services training center: a modern burn tower or container‑based simulator, additional classrooms and locker‑room decontamination showers, on‑site cascade air filling for SCBA bottles, indoor garage bays for apparatus and a rehab space for trainees. Several counties’ projects were cited as cost comparators: Rockland County’s recent commander‑series tower project (about $3 million), a Lear County‑style complex cited at about $6 million, Chenango County’s burn‑building work (~$600,000 for a burn building alone), Albany County’s projects (~$1.8 million combined) and a Steuben County project under construction at about $360,000 for a modular tower.

County staff said the next steps are to develop a county proposal that defines needs, considers potential sites (including existing county buildings that could be repurposed to reduce cost), prepare a budget estimate and pursue state or other grants. One county staff member present suggested an initial range of $3–4 million for a regional‑quality training center but stressed that a firm cost estimate requires a detailed scope and site selection.

Committee members asked to be included in planning and asked staff to return with a more concrete proposal and funding strategy. No formal action or funding decision was taken at the July 22 meeting.