Just east of the City of San Diego, the Thomas H. Owen Heartland Fire Training Facility exists for the purpose of providing ongoing training for local Fire Departments. What makes this particular training facility unique is the fact that it is funded and operated by a Joint Powers Authority which consists of the Cities of El Cajon, Santee, La Mesa, and the Fire Protection Districts of Lakeside and San Miguel.
Fire agencies today are beginning to realize the benefits to sharing the cost of fire service delivery including equipment purchasing, automatic aid agreements, operations, Emergency Medical Services, code enforcement and the like. So, one might ask, “what makes this training facility so special?” The answer to that question is that this particular facility was pioneered about 29 years ago and continues to operate successfully to this day. This very well could be one of the first practical applications of a joint venture between 5 different fire agencies nation wide.
On December 1, 1973, an agreement was made and entered into by and between the City of El Cajon, City of La Mesa and the Fire Protection Districts of Santee, Lakeside and Spring Valley. Subsequent to that, the agreement was amended to change the name of Spring Valley to San Miguel as well as recognizing the incorporation of the City of Santee.
These East County agencies represent Zone 4 of the San Diego County Mutual Aid Agreement, and as such, are named “Heartland.” Thus, the name became the Heartland Fire Training Facility. The name was later changed to the Thomas H. Owen Heartland Fire Training Facility after it was dedicated to one of its founders, former El Cajon Fire Chief Tom Owen.
The Authority is governed by a Commission which is comprised of elected officials from each jurisdiction, along with a Board of Fire Chiefs which includes each respective Chief.

The annual budget to operate this facility is paid for by each agency based on a formula using the number of personnel from each agency. This number represents a percentage of the overall budget. If an agency’s personnel represents 25% of the total number of personnel using the facility, then that agency pays 25% of the Budget.
Since the facility has been in existence, it has had a reputation statewide as a premier regional fire training center. It occupies about 4 acres of land owned by the City of El Cajon. The facility consists of a 5 story drill tower, an environmental building capable of performing “hot” fires, a pump test area, a classroom facility seating thirty people, and is outfitted with state of the art video editing equipment as well as a digital simulator used for testing and training.
It has been instrumental in improving all aspects of emergency response between the various Heartland fire agencies and has been one of the main focal points in bringing the departments together in an efficient operational manner for purposes of sharing resources under the Heartland Automatic Aid Agreement.
One example of how this is accomplished is the “Color Group” method of scheduling training sessions. The 23 engines, 5 trucks, and 6 paramedic ambulances use the facility at least twice a month per division on regularly scheduled drill days. These units are divided into six color groups and are scheduled for three hours at the facility per training session. The truck companies are rotated to different color groups quarterly. This allows personnel the opportunity to have exposure to the different trucks within the zone.
During this time, they may be assigned to specialized training such as high-rise, confined space, and hazardous materials or they will work on individual training that cannot be performed at their respective stations.
When equipment and personnel are dispatched to an incident, the emergency ground management and operational procedures are universal regardless of the jurisdiction within which the incident occurs.

As the fire service continues to change, and innovation with regard to the sharing of resources marches forward, the Thomas H. Owen Heartland Fire Training Facility Authority stands alone as a pioneer in successful cooperative spirit.