DONATION PAVES WAY TO TRAINING FACILITY

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A police and fire training center, complete with a handgun firing range, will be developed on a 7-acre site on South Sprigg Street.

The property, formerly Central Foods, was purchase by the city of Cape Girardeau from Boatmen's Bank. The bank donated the money, $25,000, back to the city for improvements at the location, bank President James P. Limbaugh announced today.

Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Gene Hindman said the facility will provide an opportunity for regular training, which the department does not have now.

"With a facility of our own, we will be able to schedule training exercises when we want them," he said.

"We're tickled," said Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard H. Boyd. The police department plans to build a shooting range on the property.

Boyd said: "Generally speaking, a fire-arms range anywhere is a difficult issue because of the safety concerns. At this location, the range will not put anyone in danger. And a dirt berm will be built of sufficient height to contain the bullets and help contain the noise."

With the new facility, Boyd said, officers will receive handgun training much more frequently.

"Using a handgun is like any physical activity. You have to do it all the time and keep in constant practice."

Once the new range is complete, Boyd anticipates monthly firearms practice for officers.

Handgun training is currently conducted at a site on Highway 74. But the land was recently purchased by a developer and is on the market.

"We expect to fire our last shot there this spring," Boyd said. "It was kind of a makeshift thing that wasn't well suited for what we were doing, but it was all we had."

The fire department hopes to build three structures on the property a smoke building, a drafting pit and a burn pit. Some of these facilities will be used by both police and fire personnel.

The police chief said: "We would also use the smoke building and drill tower for rappeling and room-entry training."

Even before the structures are built, the fire department will be able to use the site for training with aerial ladder truck and for emergency extrication training.

The training area will be available for officers from other agencies including the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, the Jackson Police Department, and the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Safety.

"We would like to make it something that we can all use and benefit from," Hindman said.

The fire chief said most large fire departments have training facilities similar to the one being planned. It allows a regular schedule of training.

The fire chief said: "Now, as far as lot of practical training, we have to wait until a building is condemned. We do some work at parks, but again we have to work around their schedules.

"The smoke building we could fill with smoke and have simulated rescues or ground ladder practice. We could also practice rappeling on the outside of the building," Hindman said. "We could build a fire in it without worrying about damaging the building."

The drafting pit would be filled with water. Pumper trucks would pump water out of the pit and then back into the pit. This "drafting" exercise is required annually by the Insurance Service Organization, the group that assigns the department's fire rating.

"Right now we draft out of the lagoon in Capaha Park, but we have to work around the weather there. We don't want to make ruts at the park."

He also hopes another pit that could be filled with flammable liquids. "We could practice with our foam equipment," he said.

Hindman said the $25,000 would not be enough to build all the facilities he hopes to have. But it will provide a good start.