WJJQ LOCAL NEWS
NTC to expand fire training center

Monday, October 17, 2011

North Central Technical College will expand and improve the fire training center in Merrill.

The tornado this year had damaged The existing training burn and splash towers.

The plans will include an expanded burn and splash towers, as well as an entire emergency training facility for Merrill. The structures would include a emergency driving course and specialized firing area that can be converted into thousands of training scenarios. An automated target system would allow automatically moving targets for officers, as well as training for simulated live fire and other scenarios.

Officers at the facility will use specialized training weapons firing sim-munitions, blanks filled with special paint and dyes that would be able to track how well the officers fires. The weapons would ensure realistic firing scenarios without endangering the neighboring facilities. NTC president Lori Weyers says that would make this facility unique to the area. “This is the same equipment used to train military troops. It's state of the art.” Weyers also said they had already outgrown the facility with over 4,000 learners each year.

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