Wake Technical Community College is building a “first-of-its-kind” training center for new and veteran firefighters.
The $23 million Advanced Fire and Rescue Training Complex will be located in Wendell.
It will be equipped with several structures, including two rescue towers, a hazardous materials ditch, and a liquid petroleum pad for simulated fires. The two towers will be five and six stories each.
The five-story “clean tower” will have a simulated zero visibility smoke screen. In the six-story “burn tower” firefighters will practice with live fires, fueled by burning everyday combustible materials like straw, pallets, and wood.
Jamie Wicker, Wake Tech’s Provost for Public Safety Education, said there isn’t another complex in the region that has a six-story training tower.
“Watching a fire build and go through different evolutions — that’s a skill set that firefighters need to understand and be able to read the signs,” Wicker said. “What stage are we in? How significant is this? What dynamics are at play that I can influence to make this fire do what I want it to do?”
Craig Daigle, Wake Tech’s fire academy coordinator, said most training centers have two to three-story towers. But he said as the region continues to add taller hotels, apartments, and other skyline structures, it’s important for firefighters to scale up their training.
“It’s really integral for us to train on what we might find in the real world,” Daigle said. “More and more in this part of the state, you see four-story or five-story apartment buildings. So, we’re really hoping to be able to provide that level of training to people from all over the state – and this is the only place that we can do that right now, right here in Wake County.”
Daigle calls the complex a “technical rescue playground.”
The hazardous materials ditch will allow firefighters to practice flood rescues, and the liquid petroleum pad will have vehicle, tank, and grill fires. There will also be a drafting pit to teach firefighters how to use and test fire truck pumps.
Firefighters will train with both mannequin dummies and role-play as victims of a fire.
“It opens up a different perspective when you’re the victim,” Daigle said. “That’s where you really learn.”
Wicker said it is also important for firefighters to practice various scenarios in a controlled environment, so they learn how to mitigate their body’s stress response.
“When you’re under stress, it can cause you to not be able to see and hear things that are happening around you, and potentially get tunnel vision,” Wicker said. “In training, people can feel what it's like to have an adrenaline dump, to have auditory exclusion, and to have to do things when you don't have the ability to use fine motor skills.”
For the most part, anyone who is currently working in public safety will be able to take the training for free. The complex is set to open in 2026, at Wake Tech’s East campus.
