Falcon Fire presents training facility concept to El Paso County planners

Falcon Fire Protection District officials briefed the El Paso County Planning Commission on July 16 about a planned training and classroom complex near US Highway 24.

The district’s chief, Trent Harwig, described a conceptual design for a roughly 6,000‑square‑foot facility with classroom space and a metal training tower that would not exceed 45 feet. Harwig said most training would use a "clean burn" system that generates water‑vapor smoke rather than toxic smoke, and that a small, seldom‑used Class A burn room would be included for specific thermal‑layering training. "It's about a 6,000 square foot facility with, about half of it is a large, training room," Harwig said.

Carrie Parsons of county planning staff told commissioners the presentation was informational only and that the approval‑of‑location deadline for the submittal had been surpassed, which would trigger automatic approval absent denial. Parsons and staff noted the lot is final‑platted, served by Woodman Hills Metropolitan District, and zoned commercial service; staff will review traffic and site development plans when they are submitted.

Parsons and Harwig said the site would be fully fenced with a single gated entrance and would include an enclosed storage pavilion for training props and trailers. Harwig said the training tower units are modular metal "pods" and that the facility would be designed to minimize traffic impacts; final traffic effects will be evaluated during site development review.

The presentation was informational only; no action was taken. Staff said the applicants expect to submit a site development plan to the county for full review in the coming weeks and thanked planning staff for ongoing coordination.

The commission heard no public comment on the item and had no remaining questions for staff before moving to other business.