Morris Daily Herald
DWIGHT, Ill. — More than two years after Illinois shuttered the Dwight Correctional Center, the now vacant, former all-female prison is slated for new use. Dwight Fire Chief Paul Johnson said the local fire district has entered into a five-year intergovernmental agreement with the state to use portions of the closed facility to conduct hands-on firefighting training.
The prison will remain under control of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, but Johnson said the district is partnering with the Romeoville Fire Academy to create a south campus in Livingston County.
The Illinois Department of Corrections transferred control of the shuttered state prison to CMS – the state agency responsible for handling state property transactions — last year. This being the first fire-and-rescue training facility for the area is “huge,” Johnson said, with firefighters from Dwight and other agencies in Grundy and Livingston counties otherwise having to travel to the academy in Romeoville or the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for hands-on training.
Unlike other academies statewide, which offer weekday and morning classes, the majority of courses in Dwight will be tailored for volunteer firefighters’ schedules, and will be available during nights and weekends, Johnson said.
Under the agreement, which still is being finalized with the Romeoville Fire Academy, the plan involves using three inmate cottages, the infirmary building and some of the adjacent land to the west. Firefighters would get hands-on training on fire suppression, hazardous materials response and technical rescue operations. Johnson said the state is allowing the fire district to use sections of the facility for free. He said he thinks the local district may spend, at most, “a couple thousand dollars” each year to build the necessary props.
Depending on course type, tuition revenue would be split between the Romeoville Fire Academy and the Dwight Fire Protection District, he said. Dwight firefighters will receive tuition waivers. The Romeoville Fire Academy will provide a fire engine and other training equipment. Classes will begin in early 2016, Johnson said, but the local fire district will likely use the facility for internal training exercises within the next couple months.
Courses offered at the south campus will meet all the requirements of the Illinois State Fire Marshall and the National Fire Protection Association.
The Illinois State Police and the U.S. Army and National Guard may use the facility in the future as well, according to a Dwight Fire Protection District news release.