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Editorial
Repair this facility fast!
A recent communications upgrade at the Erie County Fire Training Academy, located on Broadway next to the town campus, turned a portion of the facility into a state-of-the-art emergency response center. Unfortunately, the rest of the training center isn't faring as well, and unless the Erie County Legislature approves repairs or replacement, residents across the county will suffer.
A pair of engineering studies indicate that the facility is in dire need of repair. Two concrete training buildings, a tower and a smoke house, have exposed rebar and badly deteriorating ceilings, floors and stairs. The live-burn building, where actual fires are set, is closed because fire retardant panels protecting the building have been damaged during training exercises. That's probably a good thing, because propane tanks are stored right outside the building.
Storage is an issue entirely unto itself. Empty soda cans are stored under a stairwell, and the walls of an indoor training facility are obscured in some areas by stored items such as ladders, coat racks and debris. This is Erie County's "professional" fire training center.
Fortunately, fires don't occur too often in Cheektowaga and neighboring towns, but when they do happen, we want our firefighters trained to the best of their ability. A firefighter practicing in a neglected and unsafe facility is most likely thinking about his own safety instead of the task at hand.
Governments are entrusted to spend taxpayer money wisely, and public safety should be at or near the top of the list. How much wasted money over the years- think "member items"- could have been put to good use at the facility? County legislators need to remedy this problem fast, and we will report progress, or lack thereof, to our readers.
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