Atlanta is moving to spend up to $540,000 to retain an outside firm to run the ATL Fire Training Center at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The City Council on Monday passed resolution out of the Finance/Executive Committee authorizing the mayor to execute a three-year contract, with two 1-year options to renew, to continue having Kirila Fire Training Facilities Inc. operate and maintain the airport fire-rescue training center.
The center has a 25,000-gallon fuel farm, propane gas ignition systems and a “burn pit” 152 feet in diameter, where jet fuel is set ablaze to create intense live-fire training scenarios.
Shortly after the training center first opened, operational issues arose that forced the facility to be shut down, according to a memo from Adam L. Smith, the city’s chief procurement officer. Kirila was brought in to restore the facility to full operational status. It did so, and has had contracts to run the center for the city since 2010.
The contract is a special procurement “because of facility complexity and potential life safety issues that could arise if any other contractor were used at the current facility,” staff said in a report to the Council.
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