Laurens County Commission OKs bid for $1M burn building for firefighter training

The Laurens County Commission approved a $1 million bid Tuesday to construct a new burn building for firefighter training that’s expected to rival any in the state.

“It would probably be second only to Forsyth and the Public Training Center,” said Commissioner Gerad Mathis, a longtime volunteer fireman. “I don’t think anybody in Middle Georgia is going to have anything comparable to it.”

The new building will be at Station 10 on Valambrosia Road. It will replace old training building on the county property near Laurens County 911 and the law enforcement center. Mathis said the current burn building was new when he started volunteering 23 years ago.

“It’s pretty much on its last leg,” said County Administrator Bryan Rogers.

Design and construction should be completed before year’s end, Rogers said. WHP Training Towers was awarded the project after submitting the only bid that met the specifications outlined in the county’s request for proposals.

Rogers said the burn building is used by both county and city of Dublin firefighters for live training in suppressing real fire. In addition to the benefit of better trained firefighters, the burn building helps save property owners money. The training center helps fire departments earn better ratings from the Insurance Services Office, and better scores help lower insurance rates for homeowners and businesses.

WHP Training’s bid, unlike the others, was for a multi-floored facility, similar to the current building, which contributes to the better insurance scores.

Mathis and several other commissioners thanked state Rep. Matt Hatchett for securing more than $500,000 for the project. Rogers said revenue from the special purpose local option sales tax would be used to pay for the work.

“Without Matt Hatchett this project does not happen,” Mathis said.

Some construction has already begun at the Valambrosia Road. Mathis said a slab prepared there was one of the last projects completed by county employee Randall Warnock before he passed away almost four months ago.