New training center for G.R. Fire Department | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Until now Grand Rapids Fire Department couldn't train on live fires, but a new addition will change that.

Fire crews built a new training facility on Butterworth Ave. SW by hand. The center looks like a real home on the inside and is a way to simulate different fire scenarios. It will prepare firefighters better and hopefully prevent injuries. In the last year, firefighters say there have been several injuries including a burn, a cut thumb, and a torn rotator cuff.

The fire department had several firefighters with welding backgrounds. More than a dozen men used scraps and their skills to put it together.

The facility cost $65,000 instead of the half a million it would have cost if the department hired a company to build it.