Congressman Tom Kean Jr. and U.S. Senator Cory Booker Tour Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Facility With Commissioners
Hunterdon County Deputy Director Jeff Kuhl, and Commissioners Susan Soloway and Shaun Van Doren, along with Public Safety Director, Brayden Fahey, Sheriff Fred Brown, County Prosecutor, Renee Robeson, Chief of Detectives, Tim Drew, local law enforcement, emergency services members and municipal representatives, hosted individual visits by Congressman Tom Kean Jr. and Senator Cory Booker to tour the Burn Training Facility, located on Petticoat Lane, in Clinton Township, at the site of the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center (ESTC).
Congressman Kean visited the ESTC on Friday, August 25th, and Senator Booker toured the training center on Monday, August 28th.
The recent tours included visiting the new fire training facility, which replaced a more than twenty-five-year-old structure. The construction of the Burn Training Facility, which represents Phase 1 of the ESTC overhaul, was approved by the Hunterdon Freeholder Board at a special meeting on December 30th, 2020. The modern Burn Building offers confined space training, rappelling training, and simulated elevator rescue between levels.
Deputy Director Jeff Kuhl shared, “We appreciate Congressman Kean and Senator Booker taking the time to visit the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center and for their ongoing support for federal funding toward this important public safety project. Hunterdon County’s Emergency Training Center provides numerous lifesaving training courses for not only local volunteer fire departments and EMS squads, but also for the surrounding region.
Our first responders are deserving of a modern facility that helps meet today's training needs and we appreciate these legislators coming to see that firsthand. We are consistently ranked as the safest county in the state. This facility will help our first responders better prepare for the dangers they face so they can continue to keep us safe. ”
The new four stories tall, 5,500 square foot burn building features live fire training with Class A and Class B burn rooms, two flashover areas, a simulated elevator for rescue training, equipment for confined space training, including simulators for a kitchen and attic space, and multilevel rappelling training. An 85,000-water storage tank with pumphouse will be constructed for building sprinkler use and multi-site fire hydrants.
Phases 2 & 3 of the Emergency Services Training Center overhaul and modernization include construction of a new administration building complete with classrooms to conduct training and a back-up 9-1-1 facility. The additional phases also include construction of a storage facility to protect expensive training props and equipment from weather.
Both Congressman Kean and Senator Booker are working jointly to secure important federal funding support to help Hunterdon County complete the remaining phases of this important public safety project.