DRUMRIGHT — A new Emergency Service Training Center will be dedicated this coming Friday on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at the Central Technology Drumright Campus. The dedication marks the completion of a facility designed to expand hands-on emergency response training in Creek County and beyond, according to Olive Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jason Dobson. The dedication will be held in the campus’ north parking lot and the public is invited to attend.
The three-story, modular facility was constructed using shipping containers, delivered, and installed by The Railroad Yard in Stillwater. Dobson said the $110,000 project was funded through a Fiscal Year 2024 Rural Economic Action Program (REAP) grant, county fire sales tax funds, and budgeted department funds.
“This is the first one in Creek County,” he said.
The facility includes live-fire demonstration and attack rooms, search and rescue and confinedspace training areas, forcible entry walls, doors and windows, roof ventilation, bailouts, rope rappelling anchor points and other customizable training features. Dobson said the facility will immediately be put to use following the dedication as part of a weekend fire school.
“It will actually be used this weekend because we have a fire school that was all a part of the dedication,” he said.
Dobson said 82 firefighters were registered for Saturday’s classes and another 61 for Sunday, with participants coming from across Oklahoma and one firefighter even traveling from Texas.
“We’re hoping to make it an annual training program,” Dobson said.
The center is designed to eventually provide certified livefi re training locally — reducing the need for area firefighters to travel to Stillwater for certain training and certification exercises. Dobson said the facility also can accommodate a variety of other training scenarios.