Expanded WCRTF hopes to complete new training course
Students learning how to become firefighters test out their equipment at the Wayne County Regional Training Facility. The WCRTF is home to a vast array of hands-on training and classroom opportunities for public safety personnel from all over the state and beyond.
Situated on over 50 acres near Apple Creek, the Wayne County Regional Training Facility is home to a vast array of hands-on training and classroom opportunities for public safety personnel from all over the state and beyond. With recent updates it has become a highly versatile venue available for everything from corporate holiday parties to weekend conferences and festivals.
Once funds are raised and an extensive paving project is completed, the WCRTF will be available to serve as a training area for all types of driver education as well. Currently, emergency vehicle training takes place in multiple locations around the facility on a gravel course that must be set up every time it is needed, with trucks frequently sinking in the gravel.
Currently, the WCRTF consists of the new Roger N. and Betty Lou Geiser Education Center and conference facility that contains state-of-the-art classrooms, a computer lab, The Jim B. Shriver Hands-On Lab, administrative offices, the Wayne County Community Foundation conference room, and an auditorium and catering kitchen facility.
The facility site also offers a fully functioning burn building for fire suppression and technical rescue training, the only static trench rescue site in the state of Ohio, a pond equipped for dive rescue and water rescue training, a firefighter survival maze that simulates entrapment and entanglement, technical rescue sites, and numerous other props and features to aid in the training of firefighters, law enforcement, and other first responder and community personnel.
In addition to the fire, rescue and EMS training provided by WCRTF’s initial training programs, outside agencies rent out the facility for training. Law enforcement and rescue canines regularly use the facility to train for a variety of scenarios including locating and rescuing survivors of accidents and natural disasters and illegal substance location. Emergency SWAT maneuvers are rehearsed at a faux strip mall on the facility grounds.
The WCRTF hosts numerous events annually for industry and public safety including the yearly Wayne County Regional Fire School, which brings in students from all over the state. These are just a few of the ways the grounds and educational resources are currently used.
The new buildings and extensive updates are all part of the training facility’s capital campaign, which is nearing completion, pending additional donations to complete a paved driver training course.
Unlike many similar training centers, WCRTF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means every building, prop and rescue area onsite and all staffing and facility operations costs are completely funded by user fees and donations.
Completing the entire paving project will be the final stage of the campaign. The driveway and a portion of the parking area were completed this summer; however, due to pandemic delays, cost increases and logistical challenges, additional funds are still needed.
The paving project has been divided into three phases, with the first phase of the driveway, parking lot and emergency vehicle driving course paved in June of this year.
“The portion that is still left to do will complete the emergency vehicle driver’s training course,” said Chief Dallas Terrell, the Wayne County Regional Training Facility CHIEF campaign chairman.
Donor naming rights to the driver course and a variety of sponsorships at all levels of giving are still available.
In addition to creating the training course, this last phase of paving will connect the new paved entrance into the educational center with the building’s parking lot. This will allow direct, paved access to the educational center. Current access is via a lengthy, gravel, one-lane path that winds through the grounds and is often obstructed by fallen trees.
“The trees are a hazard for egress and access, especially because the existing driveway is a one-way lane,” Terrell said. “The ability to route traffic in and out of the facility without passing through the training props will be much safer, especially since most weekends there are multiple classes going on at the WCRTF.”
The new driveway also provides needed access to the new Stout Excavating Low Angle Rope Rescue Training Site. Low angle rescue is an integral part of basic fire service operations, and obtaining and maintaining fluency with the equipment required can be a challenge, as can finding a reliable and safe site for appropriate training that is consistently accessible.
Once completed, in addition to being used for fire and emergency medical vehicle training, the driving course will be available for many other uses.
“We anticipate the drivers training area to be used by school bus drivers, CDL drivers, new driver orientation programs, law-enforcement driver training and more,” Terrell said.
The new paving also will create a large area that could be used for private and community outdoor events.
The new Roger N. and Betty Lou Geiser Education Center is available for rental and is the perfect site for classes, trainings, seminars or any conference center needs. There is a large meeting area with multiple breakout rooms and a spacious kitchen that can accommodate food preparation or catering. The conference facility also is available to host celebratory events such as wedding, graduation, retirement and holiday parties, banquets, et cetera.
The fire, law enforcement and emergency medical training provided at the training facility is an integral component to keeping communities safe all over the state. When individuals, civic groups and businesses utilize the WCRTF’s new venue, they are supporting a needed regional resource that enhances communities.
Volunteers are always needed in a variety of capacities. Donations of any amount are welcome. Tours are available for anyone from local chambers of commerce to 4-H groups or even interested individuals.
For more information, to reserve the conference center and for tours, email wcrtf@hotmail.com.
The Wayne County Regional Training Facility is a nonprofit organization that is an integral part of the training of first responders from all over the state and beyond, as well as a valuable community resource. It relies on community support, volunteers and donations to continue to provide initial and ongoing training. The WCRTF is funded entirely through donations and usage fee revenue.
Find the Wayne County Regional Training Facility online at www.wcfra.com or at www.facebook.com/Wayne-County-Regional-Training-Facility-202779106411073/.