Fire department to use former Rite Aid for local firefighter training, agency official says

An agency official said the fire department has gained access to the former Rite Aid at Dixie and National to conduct training exercises for crews, bringing realistic practice into the community without sending personnel out of their response districts.

The training will cover a wide range of on-scene skills, the official said, including lost person search, ventilation exercises that will fill the building with smoke to practice removal, down-firefighter rescue, ladder placement for aerial devices, roof operations, and breaching and breaking. "Just about anything that we would do on a normal fire scene, we can do inside or outside of this building," the agency official said.

The official sought to reassure residents that operational readiness would not be compromised by on-site practice. "We're not out of the districts. Anything that happens in the city, we can be there as quick, if not quicker, than we are anywhere else in the city," the official said.

Officials also said they will post signage to notify the public that training is in progress and will take steps to reduce noise and public alarm. "We're actually gonna help out and maybe put some signs up that state that there's training in progress," the agency official said. "We try and keep the noise down, and we're gonna put some signs up to let everybody know this is just a training and there's really nothing harmful going on in the city."

Department leaders said the arrangement allows crews to practice realistic scenarios close to where they serve, avoiding travel to outside training facilities while maintaining response coverage. They did not provide a start date, a formal schedule, or the full name of the partner referred to as "National."