Property owners in Paulding could see reductions in fire insurance premiums before long, partly because the Fire Department is building its own live-fire training facility.

Fire Chief Michael Earwood says the department plans to request an ISO (Insurance Services Office) review around February, “and we hope to drop the ISO rating in some areas, if not all.” ISO classifications in Paulding now range from 6/9, “and we hope to be class 5 almost everywhere.”

The county’s last ISO review was in 1996, and since then the county has built new fire stations that reduce response time and staffed the stations with about 100 full-time, professional firefighters using the 2 mill Fire Tax approved by voters in 2007.

“We’ve waited until we got a lot of manpower in place” before requesting a review, said Earwood. Department enhancements could “be good for citizens’ insurance premiums.

“We’ll get big points with ISO” by having local training opportunities, said the chief. “They look for training facilities.”

Paulding firefighters have been doing their annual live-fire training required to maintain certification at Dobbins Air Force Base for about 10 years after the county signed an agreement with Dobbins, Cobb County, Austell and Smyrna to share facility costs. Paulding’s initial share was about $10,000, said Earwood.

But taking veterans and rookies to Dobbins has been problematic and costly. Recently, the facility at Dobbins was unusable, so Paulding took firefighters to Austell’s new training center as part of the intergovernmental agreement.

Earwood estimates the annual travel cost going to Dobbins at about $11,000, plus overtime. Preparation and travel each way take about 90 minutes, he said, and firefighters spend three to four hours at Dobbins, training under a variety of scenarios.

So Earwood decided to explore building a local training facility at the department’s training site in North Industrial Park across from Braly Sports Complex, and firefighters and other county employees have done the work, which the chief estimates will cost about $20,000.

County DOT employees placed the four, 8,000-pound overseas shipping containers that will serve as a two-story “house” and GreyStone Power donated and installed six poles on which a four-story structure will be built. Employees will build a “maze” for search-and-rescue practice in a hostile environment in several rooms of a prefabricated building set up with living room and bedrooms. Maj. Wayne Barron, inspections, said a prefabricated classroom that will accommodate 30-40 firefighters at a time is in the plans. Current classroom space is limited to about 18.

“And we’ll have space for other mockups later,” said the chief.

Instructors will burn wood pallets in the shipping containers, plus straw for smoke, and will use training dummies for rescue efforts. Safety lines will be in place as firefighters battle 400- to 500-degree temperatures in the 1,200-square-foot house in which metal interior stairs and perhaps a stove and chimney will be built.

The tower will have two sides enclosed and interior stairs so firefighters can practice carrying in equipment and rescuing victims. The tower will also allow ladder truck training and have a “rehab” area where firefighters can rest.

The site includes a drafting pit for pump testing and training, and there is room for vehicle extrication practice.

“We can build a flammable liquids container and other props,” Earwood added.

With its own facility, the department can bring firefighters in for training, reducing costs and time away from stations. Local live-fire training could begin next month, and Earwood said the facility will be complete in six to eight months “and then tweaked” thereafter.

“We’ve done a lot of physical work the last two months,” said Barron. “All in-house,” added Earwood.

Other firefighting agencies could use Paulding’s facility “with us or with our supervision,” said the chief.

“We can be self-sustaining here, as far as certification.”