PENDLETON — Pendleton Fire Department firefighters typically train a couple of times per month; they do walk-throughs of local businesses to learn the layouts, practice ice rescues on the pond in Falls Park or join with other area departments — including Adams Township, Lapel, Ingalls, Edgewood and Anderson — for a variety of exercises.

Soon — thanks to large metal containers being made available free of charge by the U.S. military — the all-volunteer local department will have another place to train and offer up to neighboring fire departments, so that all are better prepared to battle blazes, PFD Assistant Fire Chief Chris Nodine said.

“So, basically, we’re taking a house and putting it in containers,” Nodine said, explaining the goal will be to construct a training center using an arrangement of 20- and 40-foot-long steel boxes.

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The so-called conex boxes are about eight feet wide and eight feet tall and are “easily stackable,” Nodine said. That makes them perfect for replicating a variety of home layouts when placed in various configurations and with basic modifications, such as the addition of walls and windows.

Other area departments already use conex boxes for training centers — including Anderson Fire Department, where Nodine is a full-time firefighter — so Pendleton will be sure to make its training facility different, so that it offers something unique, he said.

The plan is to design a “confidence course,” which will let firefighters practice exercises in simulated-smoke-filled room, so they can get used to doing their fire and rescue functions with some of their senses — especially sight and smell — impaired.

“It’s basically hearing and feeling,” Nodine said, noting what firefighters rely on most in a smoke-filled house while fighting a fire. During these moments, it’s not uncommon for firefighters to feel claustrophobic, he said.

By training in simulated conditions, they not only prepare themselves for the day-day-day rigors of being a firefighter, they also are less likely to experience job burnout, and therefore are more likely to stay on longer at the department.

Pendleton Fire Department at this time has four 20-foot conex boxes, which were hauled to town from Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, southwest of Bloomington. Four 40-footers are supposed to be available soon, he said.

Nodine and a handful of firefighters will design and construct the training area. He said the plan is to have the lower level done by July. PFD likely will use the facility for training about half a dozen times per year.

It will be located on the grounds of Pendleton Correctional Facility, just south of the intersection of West Fall Creek Drive and County Road 800 South.

“The reformatory has been a great asset in this,” Nodine said.

The conex boxes, which will sit on a concrete slab in what is now just a field, will be made available to correctional staff as needed.

“They can use it for canine searches,” he said.

An added benefit of the facility will be its proximity, which often will mean less travel time and more practice time during training sessions, which is scheduled for the second and fourth Mondays each month.

“You can do a lot in two hours if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do it,” he said.

Pendleton Town Councilman Bob Jones, who has been a volunteer firefighter for the department about 25 years, said a new training site will be an asset for the department and community.

“You need a place to train, particularly for your folks that are newer to the department,” Jones said.

“A lot of time you have no visibility at all,” he said. “You need that training so you can kind of get used to that.”

Many volunteer firefighters in Pendleton are full-time paid firefighters in other towns and cities, and Pendleton does have good training facilities available elsewhere, but it’s good to add to the diversity of experiences, Jones said.

As well, he noted, it’s good to train locally because it keeps firefighters nearby, should there be a call.

Anderson “is a great facility,” he said, but “when we go up there, we’re out of our territory.”