As a High-Rise Symposium played host to hundreds of fire officials from around the world on March 19, a new High-Rise Simulator was dedicated at the FDNY Training Academy on Randalls Island.

“This is a proud day for the Department,” said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. “In a city that houses thousands of high-rise buildings, this simulator is going to become a critical toll in the training of our firefighters.”

The Leary Firefighters Foundation and the FDNY Foundation raised funds to pay for the $4.2 million training tool, which was designed by FDNY firefighters.

The 4,000-square-foot, four-story building is filled with tools that reproduce the many unique conditions firefighters routinely face while responding to emergencies in high-rise buildings, including a roll-over fire simulator, mock shaft ways and a dry standpipe system. There are also video hookups on each floor for real-time review and instruction.

“Once you give a firefighter a piece of equipment, it goes to work right away,” said Denis Leary, President of the Leary Firefighters Foundation. “It’s never a question of whether or not they’re going to use it - it’s when they’ll wear it out from using it too much.”

Work on the simulator began in November 2007, when it was added to an existing building at the Fire Academy. The simulator was designed by FDNY members and is the first of its kind in the nation.

“Some of the most difficult fires we fight are in high-rise buildings,” said Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano. “This is one of the last pieces of the puzzle that make this the greatest fire training academy in the world. We’re really going to save firefighter and civilian lives because of the training done in this building.”

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