Berkeley County Emergency Services Training Center receives $1.6M in state funding

For Site Expansion, Facility Upgrades

The Berkeley County Emergency Services Training Center has received $1,616,398.57 in state funding for expansion and facility upgrades at its site in Moncks Corner.

Since 1996, the Training Center has served as a critical location for local fire, police, EMS, 911 and Emergency Management agencies throughout the County and Tri-County region to adequately train in various emergency scenarios.

The 18.45-acre site, which the County leases from Santee Cooper, is where State Fire Academy, State Emergency Management, FEMA, state utility companies, and third-party vendors conduct training for local industrial partners. It’s also where local fire responder agencies hold critical classroom instruction and hands-on training sessions.

This project includes a new four-story training tower for the fire industry, as well as renovations to the current building and classrooms; bathroom remodeling; replacement of flooring and tiling; new furniture; new IT infrastructure and AV equipment; and upgrades to the site’s grounds.

With a more state-of-the art, high-level Training Center, the County will be able to better serve its emergency service agencies and offer other agencies around the Tri-County and state unique opportunities for training.

“Training is key in the fire services industry and all emergency service careers. We are grateful to our State Delegation members and Berkeley County for working together to support us and provide us the best possible site and resources for quality training to better serve our communities and assist our counterparts in the field. We look forward to utilizing this Training Center site to grow the knowledge and experience of our County fire departments and several other agencies around the County, state, and region.” –Chief Ben Waring, Pine Ridge Fire Department / Berkeley County Fire Chiefs Association

“On behalf of County Council, I’d like to thank the members of our Berkeley County Delegation in Columbia who supported this request. Bringing County taxpayer dollars back to help us better meet our training needs for our public safety departments is vitally important in our mission of protecting life and property.” -Johnny Cribb, Berkeley County Supervisor

“The facility upgrades made possible by this state funding gives us the opportunity to better train our EMS personnel and partners, improving our readiness to respond to emergencies in our communities.  Thanks to the partnership between County leadership and the State Delegation, we will have a great, modern, and consolidated training center to accomplish that goal.” -Chief Michael Shirey, Berkeley County Emergency Medical Services