By Sandy Vondrasek

When it comes to becoming a competent firefighter, theoretical learning can only take you so far.

So it is not surprising that firefighters from around the state—as well as students in the new Fire Science program at Vermont Technical College—were celebrating the announcement this week of plans to build a $700,000 "live burn" training facility on the VTC campus.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was on the Randolph Center campus Tuesday to announce that he had secured a $406,000 federal grant for the building.

"The construction of a state-of-the-art live burn building in a central location will facilitate the training of firefighters in many typical live-burn scenarios during and after basic training," Sanders said in his statement.

The building could be used for everything from basic firefighting certification, which includes a live-fire component, to advanced techniques and specific scenarios, for example, fighting fires in enclosed stairwells.

At Tuesday's press conference, VTC President Ty Handy said the college will work with the state legislature to find the additional $250,000 or so needed for the structure, which would be built in the next 12 to 18 months. It has not yet been decided exactly what sort of building will be constructed, nor where on the VTC campus it will be sited, Handy said.

Handy emphasized that the live-burn facility would be a training resource for departments around the state, and not just for students in the college's brand new fire sciences program.

According to Jim Litevich, chief of the Vermont Fire Academy in Pittsford, planners are considering a multi-storied, metal building that could be used to train in a wide variety of scenarios, including high-rise operations, confined space rescue, rappelling, and high-angle rope rescue.

Peter Maloska, director of VTC's fledgling Fire Science program, and several of his students attended Tuesday's announcement about the federal grant for the building.