HOUSTON, Texas (Covering Katy News) - A fire department that serves the Katy-Richmond and Houston area is building a $65 million swift water rescue training facility to prevent flooding deaths by providing first responders with safer, more accessible training for high-water rescues. The facility will be on Bellaire Boulevard between Chickory Woods Lane and San Pablo Drive in the Mission Bend area in Fort Bend County.
Harris Fort Bend Emergency Services District No. 100, which operates the Community Volunteer Fire Department, is building the facility to address training for Texas' growing flood risks. The Community VFD serves 25 square miles of Harris and Fort Bend counties. The facility will be open to any agency seeking training for high-water rescues.
"Regional emergency response teams will no longer depend on finding a creek or river flowing at an ideal level to create the proper conditions for this vital training," said Dale Terry, ESD 100 board president. "With just the push of a button, the water can be turned on and off. This will allow us to train more first responders in a more realistic environment in order to be fully ready for the next hurricane."
The facility will be known as STORM Ranch, short for Swift water Training for Operation and Rescue Missions.
The location of the swiftwater training facility is along Bellaire Blvd. between Chickory Woods Ln. and San Pablo Dr.
"From simulating realistic swift water scenarios to providing controlled environments for skill development, this facility will be invaluable in delivering vital hands-on training," Terry said.
The design firm, Colorado-based Calibre-S2O, says it will be "one of the world's most advanced urban flood training facilities."
Calabre-S2O
The STORM Ranch facility layout.
The Swift Water Training Facility will provide multiple training scenarios, including immersed vehicle, boat and high-ropes rescues. A high ropes rescue, also known as a high angle rescue, uses ropes, pulleys, and harnesses to reach a stranded person in difficult to reach locations.
The project's "Main Street" will feature a two-story residential building, a sunken residential building with a pitched roof, a high ropes tower and a mock two-story care facility with a flat roof connecting to the high ropes tower. STORM Ranch will also include realistic road conditions with narrowed street intersections, utility poles, a rocky gorge area and a low-head dam simulating varying water levels for scenario-based training.
Unlike larger water-storage dams, low-head dams allow water to flow over their crests continuously. Though smaller, they are often called "drowning machines" due to dangerous recirculating currents.
The campus will include a classroom training center, cafeteria, retail space and housing for visiting trainees. The facility is expected to train up to 6,000 personnel yearly from local and regional partners.