A new public safety training facility is in the design phase in Cedar Park; the Leander Fire Department’s training tower is undergoing renovations; and in Liberty Hill, the fire department has plans to move into a new administration building that will house minor training exercises in order to keep up with the city’s projected growth.
“Our first primary mission is to respond to emergencies, and our second primary mission is to be prepared to respond to those emergencies, and so training is absolutely a huge component to that,” Leander Fire Chief Billy Wusterhausen said.
Two-minute impact
As area cities continue to see population increases, local public safety officials said they recognize the need for additional training opportunities.
Cedar Park’s $30 million public safety training facility has been under design since mid-2023. The facility, which will serve as a centralized hub for all fire, police and EMS training activities, is expected to open in 2026, officials said.
“Being able to train together, communicate together, all under the same roof, will increase the efficiency in all of our public safety services here in the city of Cedar Park,” Assistant Police Chief Bryan Wukasch said.
Liberty Hill leaders also have plans for a public safety training facility but have not yet secured land. In an email to Community Impact, City Manager Paul Brandenburg said the facility is “just a dream at this point.”
However, the Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 4—the district the Liberty Hill Fire Department falls under—recently acquired the former Main Street Social building downtown, which will be repurposed as a fire administration facility and help increase training opportunities in the short-term, Fire Chief Anthony Lincoln said.
The Leander Fire Department’s training props—mock setups that provide the firefighters a space to practice real rescue mission scenarios—inside the department’s firefighter training tower are worn out and being replaced, Wusterhausen said.
Representatives from each city said they hope the plans and renovations taking place on their facilities set them up to better serve the community for years to come. Continue reading to learn more about plans in each city.
1. Leander Fire Department training facility
- Status: Renovations in progress
- Description: Located at Leander Fire Station N•o. 3•, the firefighter training tower is undergoing renovations to install new gas-burning props.
- Status: In design
- Description: This joint facility will house various training activities for fire, police and other emergency responders.
- Status: Building acquired, renovation plans expected in September or October
- Description: This building will house the Liberty Hill Fire Department’s administration team and be used for some training purposes.
Costing $550,000, the renovations to the Leander Fire Department training tower include three new prop stations for fire training that will burn with propane gas rather than burning hay.
Wusterhausen said the gas is much quicker to prepare and allows for more training cycles in less time.
The gas props are also healthier for firefighters, who have a higher risk of developing cancer because they are often exposed to carcinogens produced in materials being burned, Wusterhausen said.
Further, the gas will provide a cleaner burn, producing less black smoke and odors.
Wusterhausen said the new props have already been installed, and all that was left as of late July was installing the gas.
“Our residents expect us to show up and perform at a high level, and I think [the renovations] are just going to make that even more possible,” said Leander Fire Captain Brad Moore.
The design for Cedar Park’s new public safety training facility is expected to be completed this fall, with construction anticipated to begin at the end of the year, city officials said.
Public safety training facilities—places where collective training activities take place—are common in the Central Texas region, Wukasch said.
Currently, the fire, police and emergency management departments move to various locations to train. The new facility—which will be located at 1200-1204 Fire Lane—will not only allow these activities to take place in a centralized location, but it will also be the first step in forming a public safety training campus, Wukasch said.
The campus will also include a permanent emergency operations center, which will allow the Office of Homeland Security to better monitor traffic, weather and other threats.
The roughly $30 million facility was approved by Cedar Park residents in the 2022 bond program.
"You can’t ask for a better opportunity to train altogether anytime of the day or night that we choose to do so. That’s what [this] facility brings altogether,” Wukasch said.
Liberty Hill
Lincoln said the building—which housed Main Street Social, an indoor food court—will be used for administration in addition to some training activities, such as prevention coaching, pump testing and classes.
The fire department’s main station—located at 301 Main St.—is at capacity for hosting trainings, Lincoln said. Called the Main Street Campus for Williamson County ESD No. 4, the new building will have a classroom that can hold 80-90 people.
Construction planning is expected to begin in September or October, Lincoln said, and additional details will be available around that time.
Live burn training sessions will not take place at the new building, Lincoln said. The department has plans to place a burn building at a future fire station.
Lincoln said moving forward the LHFD would like to have a dedicated training facility because a combined one would eventually be outgrown.
“If [the city] doesn’t plan big enough to begin with, they will outgrow it rather fast,” he said.
About the facility
- Williamson County ESD No. 4 purchased the building in June.
- 5-year-old building
- 11,000 square feet, roughly
- 4-acre property
- $490 per square foot cost
