"They can be used for anything from search and rescue inside a home to search and rescue in a lost wooded area. They can be used to find hot spots inside walls, buildings," Captain Josh Cox said.

The firefighters said it is a critical piece of equipment often used in fire response.

"A lot of times smoke may be visible, but the actual fire may be in a wall, it may be in a ceiling. It may not be visible through the drywall. Through the thermal imaging, we can see where the sparks are coming from, where the fire is coming from. That way we know where to attack it," Avoca Volunteer Fire Department's administrative president David Long said.

The station is located on Door County C, several hundred feet north of its intersection of State 57.  

Finishing touches on the combination fire station and ambulance facility required the trucks to park in the new building, according to BUG Fire Chief Curt Vandertie. They had to be in place in order for workers to adjust the new building's exhaust ventilation system, he said.

That one feature of  the  new station widely separates it from the 50-year-old station now vacated, less than a mile north on Door County DK.

Station 1 downtown received a “fair” score of 3.3. The committee has discussed whether it would be better to relocate or to rebuild on the existing site.

 

However, if the Twin Falls Police Department could use that space at its Public Safety Complex, the fire department could evaluate costs and benefits of moving to another site.

 

Station 2 on Falls Avenue received a “poor” rating of 2.5.

The new facility -- which meets the National Fire Protection Association’s standards for training new and existing firefighters -- includes an administration building, training and safety building, a Class A burn building for combustible materials such as wood pallets and straw, and a Class B burn building with propane live fire props. “That building also features a five-story training tower that is able to simulate the various urban environments (and building configurations) for training scenarios,” Jackson added.  

The first floor includes a hotel lobby, and warehouse and retail space; apartments, private offices and cubicles make up the second and third floors; hotel rooms and balconies on the fourth; and suites and apartments on the fifth.