Charles City development site to be used for firefighter training

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A training site being developed in Charles City should help area firefighters and other emergency departments practice techniques and get a chance to build even better working relationships.

The Charles City Area Development Corp. board approved a lease at its meeting Wednesday that will allow the Floyd County Firefighters Association to use the Oliver Development Park in the north part of town to build facilities and store training equipment.

Ben Chatfield, chief of the Floyd Community Volunteer Fire Department and president of the Floyd County Firefighters Association, said the site will “give all of us a place where we can train 24/7” as needed.

The development park is the site of the former Hart Parr/Oliver/White Farm tractor manufacturing company. It’s just off North Grand Avenue, bordered by E Street on the west, 13th Avenue on the north, 11th Avenue on the south and a railroad spur on the east.

The development corporation is leasing the property to the firefighters association on a year-to-year lease for $1 a year, Chatfield said.

“I think everybody felt this is a worthwhile venture,” said CCADC President Craig Anderson at the meeting Wednesday. “It’s a worthwhile use of the park versus having it sit there and not serve any purpose.”

The Floyd County Firefighters Association includes all the fire departments in Floyd County, as well as the Nashua, Greene, Dougherty and Osage departments that border Floyd county.

“This gives us a place where we can set up and leave set up,” Chatfield said.

“Training opportunities are few and far between,” he said. “We burn houses now and then, but it’s costly.”

The training site will allow firefighters to set up a live-fire trailer that the association already owns. Members could also build a rappelling tower, set up a course for driver training and set up a vehicle extrication practice site, Chatfield mused.

“We haven’t gotten into a lot of detail yet,” he said.

Marty Parcher, the Charles City Fire Department assistant chief, said the site is ideal because it’s centrally located in the county, is relatively flat with a lot of existing concrete and is easily accessible.

“It’s all falling into place,” Parcher said.

Chatfield and Parcher both talked about how the firefighters association is attaining non-profit status, so it will be able to apply for grants to help pay for some of the costs involved in setting up the training site.

“We feel this is a huge opportunity to do a lot of things,” Parcher said. “If we can get all the departments to pitch in we can make something really great. So far, all the departments have really been on board.”

Chatfield said the association still needs to check with the city of Charles City to make sure there are no zoning problems or other legal concerns.

He said hopefully by early next spring the group will be able to start clearing some trees and putting up the fencing that is a requirement of the lease.

Parcher and Chatfield both said they hope to be able to begin using the site for training in the spring or summer at the latest.

“It’s going to be a fantastic deal,” said Parcher. “We’re gearing it toward all the emergency services, including law enforcement and EMR, because we all have to work together anyway.”