Bruce Power is providing its fire training facility for Brockton’s new fire training centre.
The facility, which is already available for training free of charge to municipal fire departments in Grey, Bruce and Huron counties, will help the centre with live fire training for volunteer firefighters, according to a news release from Bruce Power.
“We commend the Municipality of Brockton for taking this initiative to ensure volunteer firefighters get the training they need to keep themselves safe and also protect people throughout our region,” Bruce Power’s vice-president of site services Jennifer Edey said in the release. “We all owe our enormous debt of gratitude to our volunteer firefighters for the sacrifices they make to keep us safe.”
The Ontario government permanently closed the Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst earlier this year and moved forward with its plans for a regional training centre model. The college, which first opened in 1949, had been closed on a temporary basis for almost a year due the pandemic.
There are about 20 regional centres across the province, with Brockton announcing last year that it was working with the Ontario Fire College to establish a centre locally. The centre has now started offering programs.
“Earlier this year, the Ontario Fire College restructured its format to move to a regional approach and the Municipality of Brockton is launching the Fire Training Centre with a goal of providing Brockton and its surrounding regional fire departments with affordable, attainable and accessible training in a safe, professional environment,” Brockton Mayor Chris Peabody said in the release.
The fire training facility at Bruce Power includes propane-fueled props, producing fire and smoke, to simulate a variety of situations. Thermal cameras that are located throughout the building capture video footage and stream it back to a central control room, the release said.
The main building, which can be used year round, also features a 50-foot tower for high-angle rescue training and there are also a number of outdoor fire simulators, including a car, forklift and transformer, the release said.