There have been incredible advancements in the training opportunities for firefighters over the last 10-plus years and one such example of that rolled into Renfrew County last week for a three-day session hosted by the North Algona Wilberforce (NAW) Fire Department.
Over 250 firefighters were at the Sno-Drifters Activity Centre from Friday night through Sunday afternoon to take part in the live fire training session conducted by Ontario Fire College personnel.
NAW Fire Chief Kevin Champ said it’s been about two-and-a-half years since the training unit was in the county, and he was thrilled NAW was the host department for the 2025 visit.
“We put in an application to host it and they came back and said ‘yes,’” he said. “They provide the unit, the instructors, the propane, all free of charge.
“We just have to find a spot to use it and support the operation,” he added.
He said it’s great to be able to host a training event of this size locally, noting 12 different departments participated including his own, Bonnechere Valley, Douglas, Whitewater Region, Laurentian Valley, Town of Petawawa, Laurentian Hills, Madawaska Valley, Greater Madawaska, Killaloe, Hagarty, and Richards, Pikwakanagan First Nation and Horton.
“It’s great to get all the different departments and municipalities in together to go through the same training, in sort of a standardization,” he added. “We have 12 departments over 12 sessions with a total of 254 firefighters.”
Chief Champ said anyone completing the live fire training will have it noted on their training register.
He said the training unit replicates an actual structure fire where the personnel have to enter the residence to find and extinguish a fire. Firefighters climb a staircase to enter the unit and then once inside, go down stairs to where the fire is located.
“They are going to experience pretty much that, live fire,” he responded when asked what was awaiting inside the unit. “They’re all propane-fired props.
“They’re basically looking for proper techniques, because there’s an instructor in there with them at all times,” he continued. “If he doesn’t think they’re putting the fire out, or applying the water properly, the fire doesn’t go out.”
He said a simulated couch is on fire and two smoke machines make it very difficult to see where they are and what is happening. He said the unit they had on the weekend is different from the flashover unit used in the area a few years ago.
Chief Champ said any member of the fire department who has received training on the breathing apparatus and has had their mask fit-tested is eligible to participate in the training.
“I have two guys here who have never been in a live fire at all, so this is going to be their first time,” he said.
Trainees go through in teams of five, and NAW had 15 personnel there.
Chief Champ acknowledged the Renfrew County Paramedic Service, who were there for support all three days, and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, who provided their mobile air compressor trailer to fill up the oxygen bottles.
“It’s a great opportunity for these guys to get in there and play with the live fire in a relatively safe environment. Every other department that has been here is just raving about it, the instructors and the facility as well.”
Douglas Fire Chief Bill McHale, who had 15 personnel participate, described the live-fire training event as awesome.
“It’s one of the few times that they get to train in real time, with simulated fire and smoke that seem so realistic,” he said. “It’s a very, very well represented and worthwhile prop that the OFM (Ontario Fire Marshal) have developed.”
Chief McHale extended his thanks to NAW Chief Kevin Champ, the NAW fire department, and NAW Township for hosting the training session.