Johns Creek firefighters will train in Cherokee County under a facility use agreement approved by the City Council.

A “burn building” in Forsyth County is out of service, and another in Dawson County is 28 miles away, while a recently finished facility in Cherokee County is 25 miles away, Johns Creek Fire Chief Chris Coons said in an agenda report.

Live fire training is important to hone such fire-fighting skills as search and rescue, fire attack, hose advancement, victim evacuation and rescue of downed firefighters, “conducted with near-real-life conditions that a firefighter will face during a structure fire incident,” Coons said. “The newly constructed burn building in Cherokee County is state of the art and allows for a wider variety of training scenarios.”

The minimum fee for use of the Cherokee County Fire Training Complex in Holly Springs is $300 for up to four hours of training, according to the facility agreement. Coons estimated the city would spend $4,800 to $5,600 a year in Cherokee County, compared with about $5,000 in Dawson.

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Toi Cliatt, Trina Martin and her son, Gabe Watson, say they were traumatized when an FBI SWAT team raided their Atlanta home by mistake in 2017. (Courtesy of Institute for Justice)

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