Dorchester County Fire Rescue cuts ribbon on new training facility

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Dorchester County is celebrating a new facility that will help train emergency crews, which should also help improve response times in the future.

The new four-story Dorchester County Fire Rescue facility was created with nine storage units, a roof pitch simulator, a simulator that allows them to break into doors, and even life-size dummies in the shape of an adult and children.

It has entrapment areas within the building designed to let firefighters know how to get out of situations they might find themselves trapped in.

Officials say the new building will allow them to train at any time they would like while teaching rescue crews how to quickly respond during an emergency.

They say it should also help improve response times when a fire happens, which could save lives.

“You can go in here and we can work on search and rescue, or getting somebody out of a confirmed area,” said Dorchester County Fire and Rescue Chief Tres Atkinson about the new facility. “Just anything is in the realm of possibilities that we would have to deal with.”

The facility was built largely by employees, including things like welding. Because of that, along with donations from various organizations, the budget for the training facility was only about $70,000.

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