CAL FIRE opens its first Central Valley training facility in Atwater

ATWATER, Calif. (KFSN) -- Marching into a caller epoch astatine a brand-new grooming facility.

CAL FIRE opened its 4th grooming analyzable successful the authorities astatine the erstwhile Castle Air Force Base successful Atwater connected Monday. It's the archetypal successful Central California.

"Very breathtaking for the occurrence manufacture and for the grooming satellite to person thing similar this successful this area," CAL FIRE Deputy Chief of Training Operations Justin Chaplain said.

The inaugural classes see recruits from each antithetic backgrounds.

"As a occurrence skipper with the Forest Service, I lateraled implicit arsenic a occurrence skipper with CAL FIRE," trainee Victor Guillen said. "I don't person immoderate of the authorities certificates truthful I had to spell done each the training, truthful that's wherefore I'm present close now."

The installation volition supply the standardized grooming offered astatine the different 3 CAL FIRE grooming facilities successful the state, preparing the firefighters for immoderate situations they whitethorn brushwood crossed California oregon wherever they are deployed.

"Over my 22 years with CAL FIRE, I person seen a singular alteration successful our occurrence enactment and our occurrence behaviour and truly what the fires are doing retired there," Chaplain said. "To spot the mode our section has responded to the alteration of occurrence successful the authorities and however we are preparing our entry-level employees, our firefighters and ensuring they're getting the implicit champion industry-leading academy is simply a spot of a reward to spot wherever our department's gone."

Training for section firefighters is already ongoing astatine the Merced County Fire Department Castle Training Center adjacent door. Action News was determination erstwhile the halfway received a silo astir 3 years ago.

The tract leaves plentifulness of country for expansions of some facilities.

"Being capable to person facilities similar this that tin proceed to turn and support that precocious level and excellence of training, it's perfectly important to what we're doing and truthful with each gathering that goes successful present and each caller prop, and each caller happening we tin enactment retired determination is conscionable a amended mode to support up connected grooming and grooming our radical to that higher and higher excellence," Assitant Chief CAL FIRE Training Center Fire Control Support Nicole Gissell said.

This installation volition invited firefighters from each crossed the state.

And if you're from the area, there's nary warrant you'll extremity up here, arsenic CAL FIRE sends trainees to the assorted facilities.

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