The Austin Community College fire academy has moved its training facilities to Southeast Austin.
Wednesday morning, ACC hosted a dedication for the opening. The new training site is on the same training grounds of the Austin Fire Department.
Until now, ACC fire academy cadets used refurbished buildings in Taylor for training. Now, all of the training facilities are in one place.
Cadets practiced putting out a fire and rescuing dummy bodies from inside a building on the training grounds Wednesday morning as part of the dedication.
Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr came out to watch, along with Council Member Mike Martinez.
“Firefighters get to practice. It's never like the real thing, but if we can simulate it to the point where it's almost like the real thing then the next time when it does come up you do it over and over and over again. When it is the real thing, they are able to perform without stopping and thinking and wondering,” said Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr.
ACC is the primary fire academy in Central Texas. It's competitive to get into the program. Every semester the college reports about 150 applicants. There are usually just 35 open spots.
