Macomb receives $2 million to enhance firefighter training

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — It took them about two minutes, but they did it.

On Oct. 23, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and state Rep. Denise Mentzer, D-Mount Clemens, rappelled down Macomb Community College’s live burn tower, located on the grounds of the Public Service Institute on the school’s East Campus at 21901 Dunham Road.

Their descent down the five-story tower highlighted the recent $2 million state appropriation college officials received to offer more opportunities for students enrolled in firefighter training courses.

The state’s investment will help fund a new building for firefighter training that will house a fire engine truck, an aerial ladder fire truck and the equipment that firefighters use daily. The new building is expected for completion in December 2025.

According to college officials, Mentzer was very successful in securing the $2 million with help from state Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores.

“We’re very grateful to their leadership and the Macomb delegation all supporting us in the $2 million endeavor. We’re so pleased to celebrate the $2 million we received from the state of Michigan,” Macomb Community College President James O. Sawyer IV said. “This is something that’s going to be very transformational for the fire academy here at the college. We’re going to expand our fire apparatus bay and give our students the accommodations and the room they need to really train effectively.

“If you’ve had an interaction with a police officer or a firefighter in Macomb County, they all likely came through this facility and I’m very proud of that,” Sawyer said. “We hold that very sacred.”    

Mentzer, who said “rappelling was like one of the most awesome things I’ve done,” comes from a family of law enforcement personnel. She persevered to get the $2 million funding from the state.

“I know what this kind of training is going to mean to the law enforcement community,” she said. “It’s Dr. Sawyer and the college who have the vision of what this facility can be.”   

The $2 million appropriation is just the beginning. College officials have plans for an $11 million renovation project at the Public Service Institute, which provides training for students to become first responders, including firefighters, police officers and emergency medical professionals. The PSI also offers ongoing professional development to support them throughout their careers.

College officials are exploring funding options for the $9 million. The goal is to update the live fire tower, create new emergency medical services and firearms classrooms, house a new simulator and increase training space to accommodate more students.     

Macomb offers a number of classes including the police academy, tactical training, corrections officer training, criminal justice, crime scene investigation, basic emergency medical technician lab, firearms, firefighter training, fire behavior and combustion, fire investigation, and more.

The current PSI opened in 1996. In 2003, a 27,000-square-foot addition opened, which included more police training programs, four new classrooms, a commons area and an indoor firearms range.

Hackel, the former Macomb County sheriff, went through the college’s police academy. He said that Mentzer’s dad was his lieutenant while he worked for the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office. PSI Director Mike Lopez said the academy has already trained one generation of first responders.

“We have another generation of first responders to train and this is the place to do it,” he said. “This $2 million is a huge need for our fire training. Our fire apparatus bay only holds one small fire engine. So this is going to be creating a full functioning fire station. It’s going to change the dynamics of all our drill run fire academy training.”

Lopez also said the institute is continuing to work for additional funding.

“We have very big plans at the criminal justice training center to expand our capabilities, especially with virtual reality training that is critical for the de-escalation training that we’re presenting to our officers. It gives them an opportunity to practice that in a very realistic setting. We’ll have expansion of our crime lab capabilities,” he said. “There have been so many industry changes in 30 years. We have to make those changes with our facility as well so we can properly train police officers, firefighters, EMTs.”