Making the Case a State-of-the-Art Emergency Training Center for Talbot County: A Chat with Brett Whitehead and Edward Forte

The good news for Talbot County residents and its league of volunteer fire fighters is that one of Maryland’s emergency services training centers is just up the road in Centreville. The bad news is that the fire department can only use that facility once a year for its ongoing training program.

That’s a real problem when your training program is several times a month and you have no place to run workshops or rehearse emergencies.

And locals Brett Whitehead and Edward Forte, both firefighters themselves, are leading a campaign to solve that program with the creation of the Friends of EVFD Emergency Services Training Campus.

Designed to serve not only fire departments but also emergency service personnel, law enforcement, and paramedics,  the state-of-the-art facility, to be located at 9095 Mistletoe Drive, will be more than just a building. The campus will have a 3,500-square-foot concrete building for first responder training, a 3,600-square-foot space for classrooms and storage, and a 1,500-square-foot concrete pad for practical exercises in car fire, extrication, and traffic safety.

The benefits extend beyond training. It aims to boost recruitment and retention for EVFD, supporting partners in law enforcement and emergency services. Additionally, it plays a vital role in coordinating responses to emergencies and has contributed to improving the International Organization for Standardization Classification for Fire Departments in Easton, promising better insurance rates for local businesses.

The Spy sat down with Brett and Ed to talk more about the project and how the community can support the fundraising needs.

This video is approximately five minutes in length.  For further information or to donate to the Friends of the EVFD Public Safety Capital Campaign for its Emergency Services Training Campus in Easton, Maryland, visit www.foevfd.org or by email at [email protected].