Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 3.E
Meeting Date: October 14, 2026
From: Michael Contreras, Fire Chief
Title: Approval of the Development of a Satellite Training Ground at Fire Station 1 and Authorization to Expend Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) and Instructional Service Agreement (ISA) Training Reimbursement Funds for the Purchase and Construction of Firefighter Training Props
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the expenditure of $95,317.26 in Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) and Instructional Service Agreement (ISA) training reimbursement funds; and authorize the Fire Chief, or designee, to execute the necessary purchase and contract documents for Phase One, consisting of one twenty-foot modular Conex Box Training Center from Forcible Entry, Inc. in the amount of $95,317.26.
BACKGROUND:
Cathedral City Fire & EMS has no drill ground or training props. Every hour of manipulative skills training the Department delivers is conducted in fire station apparatus bays, vacant lots, the public right of way, or it requires personnel and apparatus to leave the city to access another agency's training facility. Each of those options carries a cost, whether in reduced training quality, liability exposure, or the time an engine or medic unit spends outside its response area.
Since January 2023, the Department has hired 50 new personnel, promoted 18, and is continuously training a workforce that is both larger and less experienced than at any point in its history. That demand cannot be met by the Department's current physical training environment.
The Department participates in two workforce development reimbursement programs, the CalJAC apprenticeship program and the ISA through College of the Desert. The qualifying training hours already delivered have generated approximately $105,000 in restricted reimbursement revenue that may be expended only on fire department training.
Combined with approximately $25,000 already appropriated in the Department's adopted budget, these funds support a permanent, two-phase satellite training ground at Fire Station 1.
Workforce Growth and Training Demand
Since 2022 the Department has undergone the most significant workforce turnover in its history. Department roster records for the period January 2023 through August 2026 document 50 hires, 18 promotions, and 33 separations, with a net gain of 17 positions.
Personnel have advanced through the Department's career ladder of Cadet, Ambulance Operator, Firefighter, Engineer, Captain, and Battalion Chief. The result is a workforce in which a substantial share of personnel early in their careers or newly assigned to a higher level of responsibility.
This composition is a strength, and it is also an obligation. Basic firefighter skills, forcible entry, search, ventilation, ladder work, and rescue, are perishable. They degrade without repetition and cannot be maintained through classroom instruction alone. The Department has responded by significantly increasing its training output, delivering 69,986 hours of training since January 2023 and more than doubling annual training hours since 2022. That commitment is reflected in the Department's Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) accreditation, and in the improvement of the city's Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating from a Class 3 to a Class 2.
Current Training Limitations
The Department's training output has grown faster than its training infrastructure.
Cathedral City Fire & EMS currently has:
• No dedicated drill ground or training facility anywhere within the city limits; • No ventilation prop, meaning roof operations, vertical ventilation, and saw work cannot be practiced on a purpose built, engineered surface; • No forcible entry prop, meaning door and lock work is practiced on donated or improvised materials that do not replicate real resistance and cannot be reset; • No search or maze prop, meaning search training is conducted in apparatus bays under conditions that do not replicate a residential or commercial floor plan; • No elevated platform, meaning ladder, bailout, and rappel skills require travel to an outside agency facility.
When crews travel outside the city to train the Department loses available resources for response, incurs fuel and apparatus wear, and becomes dependent on another agency's schedule and priorities. When crews train in vacant lots or in the street, the Department accepts avoidable risk and delivers a lower quality repetition. Neither condition is sustainable for an accredited department serving 53,000 residents from three fire stations.
Restricted Training Reimbursement Funds
To offset the cost of its training program, the Department enrolled in two workforce development reimbursement programs:
Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CalJAC). The CalJAC apprenticeship program operates under a cooperative agreement between the Fire Department and the Cathedral City Firefighters Association. It reimburses the Department at a rate of $5.00 per training hour for qualifying apprentice training in defined subject areas. Funds received under the JAC agreement are restricted and may be used only for fire department training purposes.
Instructional Service Agreement (ISA). The ISA is administered through College of the Desert and reimburses the Department at a rate of $5.75 per training hour for qualifying training that falls outside the JAC subject areas, and for personnel who are not enrolled or who have journeyed as apprentices. ISA funds are likewise restricted to fire department training purposes.
The two programs together have accrued a combined balance of approximately $105,000. These funds cannot be redirected to salaries, apparatus, facilities maintenance, or any other city purpose. They represent training dollars the Department has already earned through the hours its personnel have delivered, and they are intended as a source of continued investment in workforce training and development.
DISCUSSION:
Staff propose the development of a satellite training ground on existing City owned property at Fire Station 1. The site requires no land acquisition, no lease, and no acquisition of additional real property. The project consists of two complementary props delivered in two phases:
Phase One, current fiscal year (FY26/27)
One portable search, forcible entry, and elevated ventilation prop, consisting of a twentyfoot modular Conex Box Training Center. This unit is a self-contained, prefabricated training structure that consolidates forcible entry, search, and vertical ventilation capability into a single footprint. It arrives fully fabricated, painted, and prop equipped, and includes eight hours of in-service instruction for Department personnel.
Phase One Quotations
Staff solicited quotations from three qualified national manufacturers of firefighter training structures, FireVent, LLC, Forcible Entry, Inc., and Forge Fire and Company:
Vendor and Configuration Reference Subtotal City Tax Total Fire Vent, LLC
Academy Model (20-foot)
Estimate
4/2/2026
$85,200.00 $7,881.00 $94,006.00
Forcible Entry, Inc.,
CBTC 20 (20-foot unit)
Estimate 9002
09/02/2026
$83,127.93 $7,689.33 $95,317.26
Forge Fire & Company LLC
(40-foot unit)
Estimate 4002,
07/10/2026
$109,200.00 $10,101.00 $119,301.00
Staff recommend the Forcible Entry, Inc. CBTC 20 configuration. Although the FireVent quotation shows the lowest base price, it excludes the forcible entry door and overhead door props, which are offered as options, all of which are included in the Forcible Entry, Inc. quotation. When those items are added to provide an equivalent specification, the FireVent cost is approximately $102,555.25. The Forcible Entry, Inc. CBTC 20 represents the lowest cost and best value to the City. It delivers the broadest range of basic firefighter skills capability per dollar, it is the only quoted configuration in its class that includes an installed roof prop, and it fits within the available restricted funding while preserving sufficient balance to complete Phase Two.
Phase Two, next fiscal year (FY27/28)
One stationary ventilation prop, consisting of an engineered roof mockup constructed on an interlocking concrete block foundation. Phase Two includes full architectural and structural design, roof ventilation calculations, stamped construction documents, and construction of foundation and supporting block structure.
The stationary ventilation prop is a permanent, engineered roof mockup that provides pitched roof ventilation, saw operations, sounding, and roof cut training on a purpose-built surface. Unlike the portable unit, the stationary prop is designed and permitted as a structure, which requires architectural drawings, structural calculations, and a foundation.
Operational and Organizational Benefit
• Response availability is preserved. Crews training at Fire Station 1 remain in the city and are available for immediate dispatch. Training no longer requires removing a unit from Cathedral City.
• Training quality and repetition increase. A resettable prop allows a crew to complete many repetitions in a single training period. Improvised props allow a small number of repetitions before the material is destroyed. • Reimbursement capture increases. Every additional qualifying training hour delivered generates additional JAC and ISA reimbursement, which makes the training ground partially self-sustaining over its service life. • Accreditation and ISO performance are supported. Training facilities, training frequency, and company level competency are directly evaluated within the CPSE accreditation model and within the ISO Public Protection Classification schedule, in which the Department recently improved from Class 3 to Class 2. • Regional partnership is enabled. A permanent in city training site positions Cathedral City to host regional company officer, recruit, and multi-agency training, strengthening interoperability across the Coachella Valley. • Recruitment and retention are strengthened. A department that invests in the professional development of its personnel retains them. The training ground is a visible and permanent statement of that investment.
Phase Two design will commence in this fiscal year so that construction documents and permitting are complete, with Phase Two construction executed in the next fiscal year supported by continued JAC and ISA reimbursement accrual. The Department's sustained training output makes that continued accrual reasonably projectable.
Strategic Alignment
This proposal advances the Department's strategic initiatives in workforce development and operational readiness and supports the department’s grounding principles including Ready to Serve, Protecting Our People, and Responsible Stewardship.
It further supports continued compliance with CPSE accreditation performance indicators governing training programs and facilities and supports maintenance of the City's ISO Class 2 rating.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Phase One will be executed in the current fiscal year using the JAC and ISA funds. The fiscal impact is $95,317.26.
Funding Source Purpose Amount
JAC and ISA accrued training funds
259-300-330-331-9800-9801)
Grant Transfer Out $95,317.26
611-900-910-911-7400-7420 Grant Transfer In ($95,317.26) 611-000-000-000-8800-8807 Training Simulator (Equipment) 95,317.26 Total Budget Authorization $ 95,317.26
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal B: COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Goal E: SAFETY
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Fire Vent, LLC - April 2, 2026
2. Forcible Entry, Inc., Estimate 9002
3. Forge Fire & Company LLC, Estimate 4002