Kaneland to go for fire training center

The Kaneland school district and local fire departments want to build a fire training facility on the high school's campus.

School board members approved moving forward with grant applications for the approximately $150,000 project on Monday.

The multi-story building, made out of metal shipping containers, would be used by the Fox Valley Career Center's fire science class, serving high school students.

"We want to give them every opportunity we can for real-life experiences," said fire science instructor Gary Baum. "This would be an unbelievable facility for us."

The site would be owned by a consortium of the career center, Waubonsee Community College and six fire departments: Kaneville, Maple Park, Elburn, Sugar Grove, Big Rock and Burlington. All could use it for training, with the career center class being given first priority.

The group, led by the Kaneville department, is applying for funds for an engineering study through the county's riverboat grants program.

Last year, the class used a training facility in North Aurora but had to do it on school days off because of scheduling issues, Baum said.

High school students are not allowed to fight "live" fires, but their training includes making their way through smoky buildings and carrying hoses up and down the stairs.

This is the second year of the class, which also includes students from Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and Burlington Central. Students who complete the whole year of the class can get 23 hours of credit toward their associate degree at Waubonsee.

Board member Cheryl Krauspe voted to move forward with the plan but questioned the safety and aesthetics of the site.

"I'm not convinced this is the right place for this kind of endeavor," she said.

Baum said that travel to another site would eat up too much class time, as well as take time away from students' other classes.

Other school board members praised the project.

"Anytime we can provide students with better and more accessible hands-on facilities, I'm all for it," said board member Jonathan Berg.