SUN PRAIRIE, WI – Tactical Training Systems, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of pre-engineered steel training structures for a variety of tactical scenarios, has launched a new website at www.tacticaltrainingsystems.com. The enhanced site explores the different series of products available from the company, profiles of past projects, and details on available financing.

Designed and manufactured specifically for law enforcement and military personnel, Tactical Training buildings feature structural steel framing, all galvanized and hot-dipped steel and flat decking systems. Facilities also include roof and floor decks rated 100 pound live load, sturdy welded stairs and custom features like elevator shafts, helicopter props and forcible door entries.

The new website highlights all products in the Series 1000 single-story Classroom and Residence structures; Series 2000 two-story Motel/Mall and Residence structures; Series 3000 three-story Residence structure with 22 moveable partition walls; and, the Series 4000 Tower/Residence with a 40-foot high tower and multiple floors. Accessories, color options and warranty/maintenance information are also included on the new website.

Started in 2004, Tactical Training Systems is a subsidiary company of Fire Facilities, Inc., manufacturers of American-steel live fire training towers, burn rooms and mobile training units. More than 65 customizable options are available from Fire Facilities, including ram-pry breaching doors, attic burn areas and confined space elevator shafts.

Based in Sun Prairie, Wisc., Tactical Training Systems and Fire Facilities, Inc. both manufacture training structures engineered to withstand real-life tactical and firefighting conditions. Our parent company, Trachte Building Systems, is one of the largest and oldest manufacturers of steel self-storage systems in the industry. 

The cost to build four new fire stations in Middletown has increased by $3 million, or about 18 percent of the total cost of the project, according to a report published by Journal News.

According to the report, voters overwhelmingly approved $16.8 million for the project based on costs estimates from 2020 and inflation affected the cost significantly.

City officials are saying the extra money can come out of American Rescue Plan Act funds or a $10 million surplus on the books, the report says.

Other options include building just three station to reduce the costs, or reduce the quality of the stations, having them last 25 years instead of 40 years, the report says.

No decisions were reported by the newspaper.

An ambulance with two firefighter-paramedics inside overturned during a crash Wednesday afternoon, the Litchfield (IL) Fire Department said in a Facebook post.

The ambulance was operating with its lights and sirens responding to a call when it collided with a car on Old Route 66 and Sargent Street. The collision caused the ambulance to land on its roof before coming to rest on a car parked nearby.

Both firefighter-paramedics were able to self-extricate and notify dispatch about the crash. They then began treating the driver of the car that hit them. The driver had to be extricated by additional crews on scene.

There was no patient onboard the ambulance. The person in the car and both firefighter-paramedics were sent to the hospital. The condition of the driver was not released. The two first responders were treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Sweet Sparkman Architecture and Interiors was tasked with replacing a 1960s-era, two-bay fire station for the city of Venice, Florida, in addition to renovating the nearby city hall. The firm was working on a site where the plan was to demolish the old fire station and build a new structure adjacent to the existing city hall, while doubling the size of the new station and yet keeping it in approximately the same footprint as the old station.

The city of Venice is on an island accessible by a bridge from mainland Florida. City hall and Fire Station Number 1 are in the center of town. “The structures were planned to be on a campus, but that didn’t really happen when they were built,” observes Karl Bernhard, Sweet Sparkman’s principal. “They both were on the same block, but didn’t function as a campus, so the city wanted to remedy that with the renovation of city hall and the building of the new fire station. They wanted to bring back the campus idea for the area and make it more of a public facility.”