HOWES CAVE — By next summer, the nearly 800 volunteer firefighters in 17 departments in Schoharie County shouldn’t have to travel out of county to train at simulated blazes, officials hope.

A state allocation of $250,000 in bonded funds announced Monday by state Sen. James L. Seward will cover much of the expected $400,000 to $500,000 cost to build a fire training center, according to county Fire Coordinator Matt Brisley.

The Senate funding included in the current state budget will be added to about $150,000 the county already set aside last year as part of the 2008 county budget, said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Earl Van Wormer III.

The funds will “provide ongoing support for firefighters,” help construct a building to meet firefighters’ training needs, and reduce the need for direct local funds, Seward said during a news conference with Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, and county officials on vacant land off Howes Cave Road. “That’s $250,000 less that Schoharie County would have to hit Schoharie County taxpayers with,” said Seward.

Seward, R-Milford, chairs the Senate’s Task Force on Volunteer Emergency Services.

The center is expected to include a multistory structure capable of using flames and smoke for practicing and a classroom. It will also accommodate training in handling hazardous materials and using ropes for rescues.

The facility is to be built on a 44-acre site in the town of Schoharie, east of Howes Caves Road, donated by Cobleskill Stone Products owner Emil Galasso. Initial plans last year considered having the county lease the land from the stone company, but Brisley said county supervisors agreed last month to take full ownership of the property.

Galasso, whose company operates a nearby limestone quarry, has also indicated he will help with gravel and equipment during construction, Brisley said.

Currently firefighters must travel out of the county, typically to training sites near Oneonta or Guilderland, to practice on real flames, Brisley said.

“Years ago, we used be able to just burn an old house,” he said, but liability concerns and accidents have made state regulations for such live-fire training stricter.

“The training regulations are such that it’s kind of discouraging to [keeping] volunteers,” Van Wormer said.

The local training center is aimed at reducing what travel time and expense for firefighters, Lopez and Seward agreed.

A pond for firefighting water supply is also expected to be built near a swampy area on the property, said Deputy Fire Coordinator Dale Nunamann.

This year, Nunamann hopes see a gravel access road constructed several hundred yards to the now-cleared site, and electric lines installed.

The training building design is still being evaluated, Nunamann said.

“It’s similar to buying a fire truck,” he said. “You’ve got to go out and look at what other people have.”

Construction next year of what is likely to be a modular steel building should take only about “six or seven weeks,” he estimated.