A new two-storey live-fire training facility in Port Elgin was unveiled with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday.
Saugeen Shores said that the Centre for Training Excellence marks a significant step forward in providing top-quality local firefighter training and emergency preparedness.
Located on Lehnen Street beside the Port Elgin water tower, the new training centre allows for on-site firefighter training in such things as live fire, search and rescue, self-contained breathing apparatus, ladder deployment, rapid intervention teams, roof operations and more.
“Having the Centre for Training Excellence right here in Saugeen Shores is a tremendous asset to our community,” said Mayor Luke Charbonneau. “It ensures our firefighters are trained using state-of-the-art equipment, which enables the protection of our residents, our businesses, and, of course, the volunteer firefighters themselves who work tirelessly to keep our community safe. This facility demonstrates the town’s commitment to safety and emergency preparedness.”
Charbonneau and Fire Chief Ed Melanson were joined by invited guests Michael S. Kerzner, solicitor general of Ontario, and Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Lisa Thompson, who is also minister of rural affairs, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The dignitaries toured the new facility after the ribbon-cutting.
Melanson said the new Centre for Training Excellence might look like a two-story tin can, but it is an engineered, built-for-purpose building fitted with technical building materials to protect it from continuous burning and degradation. There are also sensors so the temperature inside the building can be monitored and controlled, all contributing to the trainees’ safety and well-being.
“We have an incident safety officer on scene when we do live burns, and a fire-safety plan that everyone is briefed and instructed on,” Melanson said. “We’re actually very safe in there. There are no surprises.”
Prior to the construction of the Centre for Training Excellence, the Saugeen Shores fire department trained in acquired structures, such as cottages and older homes, but safety risks made live-fire training a challenge.
“We were always really, really, hesitant to do any sort of live-fire training in them, as you can imagine. You’re just not sure of the structural stability, what’s in them, or how they were built. There’s too much uncertainty,” Melanson said.
The firefighters would sometimes train at Bruce Power’s “remarkable” training facility, but being 30 minutes away, combined with the security clearances needed to access the nuclear site, it took too many firefighters out of service and made it hard to train on a regular schedule, Melanson said.
“It allows us to control the environment in which they’re in, which gives us the ability for them to get repetitions and experiences in fires that they wouldn’t normally get unless they actually experienced a house fire,” Melanson said. “We can mimic everything that possibly could happen, or almost everything could happen. And, in a safe manner, in a controlled manner where our firefighters could start to feel some heat, they could start to look at what a single storey structure, how we would fight that fire? A two-storey fire, a basement fire, heavy smoke conditions? We can control everything and gain those experiences.”
The new training centre was a major initiative for the town’s fire services in the Saugeen Shores 2024 Business Plan.
According to that plan, the budget for the training centre was $400,000.
“I am pleased to see Saugeen Shores take this important step in enhancing local emergency services with the opening of the Centre for Training Excellence,” said Thompson. “This facility will not only provide our firefighters with the tools and training they need to keep our local communities safe, but it also reflects the dedication and forward-thinking leadership of everyone involved in making this vision a reality. Congratulations to all who contributed to this milestone achievement.”
Saugeen Shores Fire Rescue provides services from two fire stations. The team responds to fire, auto extrication, medical assistance, rescue, and public hazard incidents within Saugeen Shores, as well as through Mutual Aid and Fire Service agreements with several neighbouring communities. The Division also supports the ongoing training of all volunteer firefighters through the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).