CVTC plans new fire, paramedic training center

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EAU CLAIRE -- Chippewa Valley Technical College announces plans for a new Fire and Paramedic Training Center this year.

The facility will include a “live burn” area; a preparation and observation area; storage for emergency service vehicles; and a physical fitness training area for fire, paramedic and police students.

The center will be funded, in part, by a gift from the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation. Lewis E. Phillips, the founder of the foundation, was a supporter of career education and served on CVTC’s board for 23 years. Donations from his foundation were instrumental in the building of the College’s Health Education Center and the Advanced Simulation and Trauma Center.

“The facility will enable us to better serve our communities by improving the training of the fire and emergency services workers that protect our families, homes and property,” said CVTC President Bruce Barker. “For decades, CVTC has been training emergency service professionals. This project will enable us to take the training to the next level.”

Marcy Bruflat, fire services instructor and program director at CVTC, added, “A facility of this type has been a dream of the people who work in the emergency services fields for quite some time.”

She said the new center will make a difference in preparing emergency workers.

“Firefighters and emergency medical professionals are constantly facing new challenges, but are also presented with new tools and strategies,” said Bruflat. “From the dangers presented by hazardous materials to the most effective fire suppressant to use to attack a fire, emergency response professionals need a wide range of knowledge. This training facility will help them stay current in all phases of their jobs.”

“My grandfather would have been so pleased to know that his foundation has helped make the planned facility a reality,” said Maryjo Cohen, president of the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation. “Among other things, the new facility will provide each trainee with the opportunity to handle seemingly out of control fires.

“It is one thing to understand conceptually how to handle a fire emergency, but quite another to actually experience it in a variety of real-life situations.”

The CVTC Board of Trustees approved the project in concept at its meeting Thursday evening. The project will be forwarded to the Wisconsin Technical College System Board for approval. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

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