Kiwanis Club Donates To First Responder Training Facility

The Kiwanis Club of Findlay presented Findlay Fire Chief Josh Eberle with a nice check to go towards the new STRICT Center.

At their Wednesday meeting, the Kiwanis Club handed the fire chief a $15,000 check that will be used for a Search House within the STRICT Center. Get more details in the video below.

The STRICT Center will be a regional training center for first responders, with STRICT standing for Simulated Tactical Response & Incident Command Training.

The new multi-agency training complex will be located behind Findlay Fire Station 4 on County Road 236.

Fire Chief Josh Eberle says the structures will allow for live fire training, technical rescue, law enforcement, EMS and other training scenarios. He calls the facility a “game-changer” for first responders in Hancock County.

“An exciting aspect of the STRICT Center is the ability for our safety agencies to train together. At almost every emergency, there is a fire department, law enforcement and an EMS component all working alongside each other. Currently it is difficult for these agencies to train as a unit, even though we respond together. The STRICT Center will allow that joint training to happen on a regular basis.”

The estimated cost is around $2.4 million with funding coming from a combination of public funds, donations and grants.

The city says its 2023 Capital Budget has $884,000 allocated for the project, and it has acquired more than $700,000 in grant money for the project.

The facility could be ready to go by September or October.