HOUSTON, Texas (Covering Katy News) – A fire department that serves the Katy-Richmond and Houston area is building a $65 million swift water rescue training facility to prevent flooding deaths by providing first responders with safer, more accessible training for high-water rescues. The facility will be on Bellaire Boulevard between Chickory Woods Lane and San Pablo Drive in the Mission Bend area in Fort Bend County.
Harris Fort Bend Emergency Services District No. 100, which operates the Community Volunteer Fire Department, is building the facility to address training for Texas’ growing flood risks. The Community VFD serves 25 square miles of Harris and Fort Bend counties. The facility will be open to any agency seeking training for high-water rescues.
“Regional emergency response teams will no longer depend on finding a creek or river flowing at an ideal level to create the proper conditions for this vital training,” said Dale Terry, ESD 100 board president. “With just the push of a button, the water can be turned on and off. This will allow us to train more first responders in a more realistic environment in order to be fully ready for the next hurricane.”…