The City of Laredo’s Fire Department has expanded its services to the professional community with the highly specialized training facility, the Laredo International Fire and Law Enforcement Training Center (LIFLET), which continues to be enhanced. The Laredo Fire Department identified a lack of training for fire suppression, hazardous materials containment and mitigation and other areas of emergency response along the U.S./Mexico border and in underdeveloped Latin American countries. The training facility is an underutilized homeland tool in the global war on terror.

An additional need for the LIFELET is to add additional training props, such as an Industrial Training Prop. This will prove beneficial to those that wish to train in this discipline.

The LIFLET center is the second-of-its-kind in the State of Texas; only one other facility in the nation offers courses in Spanish. Made possible by a 1995 bond election and funding provided by the Laredo Police Department, construction on the new Laredo International Fire and Law Enforcement Training facility began in 2001. Inaugurated in 2002, the Laredo Fire Department now has the opportunity to offer training courses in Hazardous Materials, Fire Suppression, Technical Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting, and Industrial Firefighting classes. The facility offers a state-of-the-art auditorium, classrooms, male and female dorms, kitchen and weight room. The training facility also has the latest props in place to offer certified training. The props include the following:

• 727 aircraft mock-up with turbine, wing, engine and landing gear
• ARFF Pit
• 406 tanker trailer mock crash site
• High pressure tank leak simulator
• Christmas tree propane fire simulator
• LNG distribution simulator
• Chemical dip tank
• Storage container fire simulator
• Vehicle fire site
• Electrical panel

In addition to these training props, the facility has a five-story burn building, smokehouse, and an emergency vehicle-driving course. The facility offers courses sanctioned by the Texas Department of Health and Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Many of the props also offer opportunities for training other law enforcement personnel and space for other types of related classroom instruction. Plans for the facility include an industrial alley along with a tanker car and tanker railcar training props. This facility has tremendous potential for training local, state, regional, and international fire and law enforcement authorities. Long-term training plans include extensive courses on homeland security, weapons of mass destruction and preparedness training for all branches of government and law enforcement. Training initiatives and agreements are already in place with local higher educational institutions and will be courted in the future to expand the facilities capabilities.

To date, the Laredo Fire Training Division staff have conducted numerous training sessions locally and internationally in Fire Suppression, Emergency Medical Services, Hazardous Material (Awareness, Technician Level), Airport Rescue Firefighting, and Technical Rescue.

The training staff understands the culture and language of many of its international students and offers a bilingual educational setting that is conducive to the certification processes.

The City of Laredo administration and policy makers believe strongly in preparedness for any emergency. With the continuing adaptation of homeland security concerns and measures, the training facility is a tool for agencies and industry partners to contribute to the common goal of a more secure global environment.

There has been an expressed interest from Mexico and various Latin American countries to attend courses offered by the LIFLET instructors. Many of these entities have the desire to further their skills, but do not possess the funds to enroll, or much less, travel to Laredo.

The City of Laredo seeks grant funding to promote the LIFLET center. It also seeks grant funding to offer scholarships or fee waivers to deserving candidates from surrounding communities and from poor, developing nations for the purpose of training and education at the facility

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)