Acting state Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook toured Carbon County’s new $10 million fire training facility late Tuesday afternoon.

The tour of the new Emergency Operations Training Center at the county complex on Broad Mountain in Nesquehoning was a bonus, he said.

Cook spoke to the county’s fire chiefs during their quarterly meeting at the adjacent county Emergency Management Agency building.

“I’m here to meet with the chiefs’ association and listen to what they have to say and what their needs are in the field, so I can better represent them in Harrisburg,” he said before the meeting.

Hot topics included recruitment of new firefighters and funding streams to get more money into the hands of local fire departments, Cook said.

“We’re listening to the needs,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some funding streams and programs to assist with recruitment and retention of volunteers.”

The state has studies underway looking at demographics, such as population and how many people are willing to volunteer, Cook said.

The state is also doing exit interviews with former volunteers and firefighters to see why departments weren’t able to retain their services and what they could do better to keep them, he said.

A tour of the four-story fire training center was one of the perks of the visits, Cook said.

“This is the first time I’ve been back here in a few years,” he said. “So, this is the first time I’m seeing the finished facility. It’s a very nice facility. It’s very well thought out and very appropriate for training firefighters.”

Cook said that not many training facilities are as big as Carbon County’s and capable of running several training evolutions. The facility is one of about 20 statewide of its size, he said.

“The state Fire Commission actually recognizes about 65 training sites in the state’s 67 counties,” Cook said. “Twenty-two are what we call educational training agencies. Those are organizations that are authorized to run the state Fire Academy curriculum out in the field. Carbon’s is one those.”

As Cook and the fire chiefs wrapped up their tour of the facility, volunteers began assembling for an evening training class.