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NAS Whidbey Island to Get New Fire Training Facility

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100301-17
Release Date: 3/1/2010 7:54:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tucker M. Yates, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, Det. Northwest

OAK HARBOR, Wash. (NNS) -- Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) Whidbey Island held a ground-breaking ceremony to commemorate the start of construction on a new academic fire instruction building on Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Feb. 24.

The project, dubbed, military construction project 206, will result in a 4,682-square-foot training facility, featuring offices, a classroom and locker rooms, able to accommodate up to 60 students. The fire school currently uses two modular units, which will be demolished as part of the project that totals less than 3,000 square feet combined, according to Lt. Glenn Harrison, Fire School director.

The fire school staffs nine instructors and currently trains approximately 30-50 students per course. The facility maintains a five-to-one instructor to student ratio with occasional assistance from high-risk firefighting qualified CNATTU instructors.

"Our main job here at the school house is to train Marines and Sailors that are going out to the fleet [in] basic aircraft firefighting," said Harrison.

A 72-car parking lot which will contain spaces allocated for high-occupancy and hybrid vehicles, as well as bicycle racks, will also be constructed.

The $3.2 million contract for the design-build project was awarded to Cherokee General Corporation and Belay Architecture Aug. 28, 2009, and the design portion of the project began in September.

"I agree with what my project manager says; if we had any place we could do all our work, it would be Whidbey Island," said Chris Prichard, project superintendent for Cherokee General. "It's a great team up here, it seems like sometimes when you do projects people work against each other, but everybody up here is working with each other and working towards the same goal."

The construction will be the first on NAS Whidbey Island to incorporate the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification for new construction.

The project is expected to be completed March 16, 2011.