New Fire Training Facility for Holly Springs

A new state of the art Cherokee County fire and emergency training facility is in the planning stages and will call Holly Springs home.

The county has just acquired the land and buildings that were the Pike Nursery Warehouse on Highway 5 for this new facility.  Requests have been posted for architect bids for the new facility, which need to be submitted by the end of May.  Design, soil and environmental analysis will follow, with the process taking six to seven months.

Eddie Robinson, Cherokee County Fire Department chief of training, says he hopes to turn the first shovel of dirt by the end of this year and have the training facility fully operation by fall of 2012.

“This will be an all exclusive fire, emergency and rescue training facility,” Robinson said.

The facility will be utilized by Cherokee County Fire Departments as well as the fire departments of neighboring towns, such as Holly Springs, Woodstock and Canton.  It will be used by new recruits and for advanced training of seasoned firefighters.

Robinson said it is vital that all services, whether county or city, work together for the benefit of all citizens in Cherokee County.

Among the plans for the facility are areas for training in water rescue, structural fires, vehicle extrication, road rescues, trench emergencies and confined space rescues.

The grounds will also have a burn building, which will mean that the fire department will not have to use donated abandoned buildings, such as the buildings by for fire training purposes.  There will also be a multi-level training tower at the facility.

The administrative building will house office staff as well as classrooms.  Robinson advised that once operational, these classrooms will provide community learning opportunities, including CPR classes, babysitting classes and CERT (Community Emergency Responder Training).