CANFIELD — More than three decades in the making, a new training facility was unveiled Monday at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center.

“This is amazing,” Andy Frost Jr., former Austintown fire chief, said. “It’s been 35 years and coming.”

Frost explained to local officials, firefighters, MCCTC faculty and students that in 1985, he and friend, former Cardinal Joint Fire District Chief Bob Tieche, decided to instruct classes as a team. The classes were held in the hallways of the buildings.

They began adding classes each year and eventually, the duo envisioned a tower and apparatus, Frost said.

The moment was bittersweet for Frost, as he shared Tieche died before he could see their vision become a reality.

Mara Banfield, career and technical education director and director of Valley STEM at MCCTC, explained that the initial phase of the project was $750,000, which included the garage for the firetrucks and the fire tower.

The two-story structure has a four-story tower.

Banfield said a request for this year’s capital budget for phase two includes $800,000, which would build a classroom off the garage space.

STUDENTS

Austin Gebhardt, 21, of Springfield Township, and Brandon O’Hara, 20, of Austintown, both graduated from MCCTC in 2017, and are employed with Boardman Township Fire Department.

Both men said that becoming firefighters is in the family, as Gebhardt’s father is Springfield Township fire Chief Matt Gebhardt, and O’Hara’s father is Austintown Township fire battalion chief — and MCCTC instructor — Tom O’Hara.

Watching their fathers at work, and growing up around the fire departments, sparked their interest in first response.

The addition of the training facilities makes the curriculum stronger, they said.

“There is more equipment” and real-life opportunity now, Gebhardt said — noting that students used to use a donated burn container. “It prepares us for the job.”

Both men agreed that the addition of the garage and the fire tower will improve training efforts.

CROSSROADS

Banfield said that several years ago, MCCTC was informed the school would not be able to use the donated burn containers for live burns.

“We were at a crossroads deciding which direction our adult (education) and fire training programs at the high school would take,” Banfield said.

Upon hearing the news, fire chiefs, officials and instructors worked together to commit to the garage space and burn tower.

“We’re estatic about the addition of the burn tower building and the new fire lab here,” said O’Hara. “We’re excited about the future of adding a classroom next year.”

The additions give all the students, from the high school level to adult, the opportunity to be ready for the fire service, O’Hara said.

O’Hara said four years ago, a burn trailer was used, which although was an advancement from the shipping container, didn’t always give extensive training.

“Now, we have this (burn tower) that will simulate a house, an actual structure,” O’Hara said.

The fire will be set in an insulated “burn room,” which will allow the rest of the structure to fill with smoke. Firefighters will be able to use the structure for search-and-rescue purposes.