Carbon County officials have broken ground on a building which they look forward to setting on fire.

The Carbon County commissioners broke ground a new $5.2 million training center for first responders.

The facility will include training space for fire and police departments.

“We’re going to be able to do a whole lot more in one place that we’ve never been able to do before,” said John McArdle, chief of Nesquehoning Hose Co. No. 1.

The fire training section of the project will be a four-story building with rooms where firefighters will be able to train in real fire situations. The building has burn rooms equipped with propane, and fire hydrants which are fed from a pump in a pond on-site, so water can be used multiple times during training.

The exterior of the building is designed for practicing rope and ladder rescues. Firefighters will also be able to practice fires outside of it.

The facility will also be used by police and EMTs. A separate, 3,500-square-foot space will be used as a range where officers can train using simulated ammunition.

“A facility like this will enable us to train so we are able to handle any situation we come across,” said Anthony Harvilla, Carbon County Sheriff.

The county has not had a burn house since 2014. Officials said that the new training center has the advantage of additional fireproof panels, and will have rules in place to make sure it lasts.

“It wasn’t built for what we used it for. But this project will be built to what we need,” said Commissioner Wayne Nothstein.

The idea for a training center goes back even further than the old burn house. A committee of fire chiefs, EMTs and law enforcement have been meeting for more than a decade to discuss plans for a training center. Fire chiefs credited current and past commissioners, particularly Nothstein, who has been a firefighter for more than 50 years.

““The county did everything in trying to secure funding for us,” McArdle said.

For many years, firefighters have had to travel to surrounding counties for training at a cost to local fire departments. It is time consuming for volunteer firefighters - who often have to train in the evenings after work.

Firefighters hope that the new training center will remove some of the barriers that prevent new volunteers from joining their ranks.

“Hopefully this project will stimulate interest with younger people. It’s tough to get them away from their phones, their obligations and other interests,” said Rory Koons, former chief of Aquashicola Fire Department. State Rep. Doyle Heffley, who assisted in the groundbreaking, said that volunteers deserve a place to train because they keep their communities safe.

“It’s important we provide our volunteers with a world-class facility to train in, that they helped design,” Heffley said.