Newnan fire facility open for training | News

“What we’re practicing today is just setting up our system and actually lowering a rescuer down,” Fowlkes said. “This could be a situation where somebody’s off of a cliff or in a deep ravine or anything like that, and our only access would be to actually lower a rescuer into that place.”

He hasn’t done a rescue of that type yet, although he has had to do rescues from trees, Fowlkes said, adding, “But you’ve got to be ready for anything.”

There are a lot of people who work on buildings, towers and in shafts, so this is a good skill to have, Fowlkes said.

Attached to the tower is a three-floor burn simulator with a kitchen on the ground floor, a bedroom on the second floor and an attic on the third floor. The attic includes two removable hatches in the roof that can be removed and replaced with plywood to allow the firefighters to practice cutting through the roof to access the attic, Brown said.

The simulator is powered by gas, which burns cleaner and, at about 500 F, not as hot as wood. That makes the simulator safer for the training firefighters, he said.

The Newnan Fire Department responded to 85 fires in 2023. Those included dryer, stove, electrical and full structure fires, Brown said. The structure fires are less common since the department responds quickly and is able to put out the fires before they spread, he said.

A separate building hosts an office for Capt. Travis Hall, captain of training, male and female bathrooms complete with showers – Newnan Fire Department currently has…