Goshen Fire dedicates training facility after longtime chief

GOSHEN, Ind. (WNDU) - Firefighters dedicate their lives to serving and protecting others, but the city of Goshen is flipping the script and dedicating something to honor one of their own.

Chief Danny Sink is the longest-serving fire chief in Goshen’s history. To show their appreciation, the city of Goshen has named its new fire training center the ‘Chief Danny Sink Regional Training Facility.’

And after nearly two decades of planning, funding, and overcoming setbacks, Goshen has its own fire training center.

“The development of this training facility has been in progress for 20 years, and Chief (Sink) has been at the lead of it, pushing us forward and empowering us to do great things, so dedicating this facility to Chief is the right thing to do,” says Steffen Schrock, Assistant Chief of Training for Goshen Fire.

Following the dedication, Chief Sink wanted to thank his staff for their tireless work.

“This training center has to do with everybody,” says Goshen Fire Department Chief Danny Sink. “I’m just a very fortunate person who has an incredible staff who are very talented, and they actually do the work. I’m just very blessed to be associated with them and be around the work that they do.”

He went on to explain that training for emergencies is at the core of firefighting.

“Training is critical; that’s how we keep our staff safe, we train, and we train a lot, and we train in different disciplines,” Sink added.

At the facility, crews train for fire rescue, confined spaces, hazardous materials, and technical rescue.

“The heart and soul of the training facility is the training tower,” Schrock explained. “Having the capability for live fire training; that is the most hazardous part of our job, so having that capability draws firefighters in because there are not many facilities in our area that can provide that type of training. It’s easy to say, hey, stay safe out there, but safety comes from knowledge, and safety comes from training.”

Asst. Chief Schrock admits that recreating an actual fire situation is challenging, but this facility was constructed to be comparable to what firefighters will face when responding to an emergency.

“The training facility is designed to look like a home, has rooms, has bedrooms, has kitchens, has a living room, so, as far as the layout of the structure, it’s just like a home,” Schrock said.

But this facility, now just one of four fire training facilities in North Central Indiana, was also designed to be utilized by various safety agencies.

“Our goal since we started this has always been not just to train our department but be a good partner and a good neighbor with all of our response friends in the area,” Sink concluded.

Once a month, Goshen Fire runs a skills and drills day and welcomes the community to come and learn fire safety from the pros.

The Chief Danny Sink Regional Training Facility is located at 2109 Caragana Ct, Goshen, IN 46526.

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