Officials unveiled the tower and the association’s new pump system during a ceremony Friday morning at the CCRFA fire academy in East Carroll Township.

The association received a $140,000 Local Share Account state grant and a $100,000 grant from the Cambria County commissioners to purchase the upgrades, which will provide firefighters from a multi-county region with access to more advanced and realistic training opportunities, Petrisko said.

According to Bob Nies, a member of the association’s site committee, the new pump system draws water from the academy’s pond and feeds it into a hydrant network, allowing firefighters to train without relying on donated firetrucks, which are often worn out, he said.

“When we’re up at the burn building, we needed to get a firetruck down here to draft water out of the pond and fill the whole system up so they could use the fire hydrants,” Nies said. “It was tough getting fire companies to leave their firetruck here all day long out of service.”

Cambria County Regional Firefighters Association assistant chairman Bob Nies of Cover Hill Fire Company explains the newly installed water pump system. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Nies said the association was “putting a ton of money” into the upkeep of donated firetrucks to draft water from the pond, so they decided to purchase a pump.

After obtaining funding from commissioners Tom Chernisky, Scott Hunt and former commissioner B.J. Smith, they received three bids for the pump, Nies said, noting one was for $350,000 and another was for about $150,000.

A third bid from the Waterous Pump Corp. was approved for $99,600, he said, adding the pump is capable of drawing out 1,250 gallons of water per minute.

The pump will be preserved and work for many years to come, Nies said.

Petrisko said the tower supports ladder operations and can be used as a rope-training building. A maze inside the tower was built to enhance firefighter evaluations, he said.

Cambria County Regional Firefighters Association training committee chairman and Johnstown Fire Chief Jim McCann (right) talks prior to the ribbon cutting of the new training tower at the fire academy in East Carroll Township on Friday morning. Current president Josh Petrisko is pictured in the background. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

It’s a nice addition to the training academy, which is “right in the backyard” for many of the association’s fire departments, Petrisko said.

Tony Sestrich, the association’s site committee chairman, said local firefighters began brainstorming ways to develop the facility back in the late 1970s. By 1985, the association was able to acquire property for the academy, he said, noting it has since been developed into a state-of-the-art facility.

Now in his fourth term as a commissioner, Chernisky said he’s seen the training academy evolve into what it is today.

It didn’t happen overnight, he said, noting several local, county and state officials worked together to get things done.

Providing the association with the funding to purchase the pump was a “no brainer” at the time, Chernisky said.

Cambria County Regional Firefighters Association president Josh Petrisko (right) talks with past president Thomas Bracken of Nanty Glo prior to the ribbon cutting of the new training tower at the fire academy in East Carroll Township on Friday morning. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Firefighters need to train and learn how to protect themselves while saving the lives of others and protecting property, Chernisky said.

“We’re training people to protect their own lives and go home to their families,” he said.

Other projects in the works

Last month, the association was approved for another grant to construct a new building that will house three or four classrooms, Sestrich said.

Petrisko said officials are “still in the planning stages” and don’t know when the new classroom building will be built.

Matt Barczak, a volunteer grant writer for the association and executive director for the Northern Cambria Community Development Corp., also touted construction of the Firefighter’s Memorial Trail, which is currently being built to connect the training academy to Prince Gallitzin State Park.

“Here soon we will have a grand opening and a ribbon cutting for the trail also,” Barczak said, noting construction is expected to finish by the year’s end.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.