It's been 10 years since Fox Valley Technical College launched its Public Safety Training Center, Jan. 29, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — It’s been 10 years since Fox Valley Technical College launched its Public Safety Training Center, and it would be difficult to understate the facility’s contributions.
The 80-acre, $34.5 million complex opened its doors in January 2015 after the approval of a district-wide referendum a few years prior. It was designed to serve both degree-seeking students, as well as provide continuing education and advanced training to public safety professionals in the field.
Featuring an emergency vehicle driving range, indoor and outdoor firing ranges, an EMS lab and ambulance bay, a forensics lab, a jail training area and six fire apparatus bays, the facility offers extensive hands-on tactical training.
“Everybody that works together traditionally at emergency scenes are able to train together at this facility. We had a great deal of community support during the process of the referendum in 2012, and we’re proud that we’ve been able to serve the public safety professionals — provide training for those that are going to be responding to the communities of the taxpayers who supported this facility from its onset,” said Cory McKone, FVTC’s associate dean of public safety.
Four countries and 20 states are represented by students trained at FVTC’s public safety training center. In the past 10 years, the PSTC has:
- Trained 13,500 officers
- Started 3,233 IVs
- Graduated more than 2,300 public safety students
- Trained 725 aircraft rescue and firefighting students
- Hosted 30 law enforcement academies and 30 jail academies
- Fired 3 million rounds in training exercises
“The careers they’re entering into are dynamic and complex in many ways and utilize a lot of different pieces of equipment, so training with that equipment and being put into stressful situations where they make decisions, that’s replicating what they’re going to experience in real life. It’s incredibly important,” McKone said.
For years, the PSTC has hosted three law enforcement training academies each year. Due to high demand from agencies statewide seeking FVTC’s training expertise for their recruits, the school added a fourth academy in 2024.
Additionally, in 2020, the ATW ARFF Training Center was established as a premier facility for aircraft rescue and firefighting training. It attracts airport firefighters from around the world and features unique training equipment.
It’s expected the PSTC generates about $12 million in regional economic impact annually.
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