GERALDTON—The Municipality of Greenstone hosted a mobile training unit from the Ontario Fire College on July 15 to July 17.
Throughout that week, 26 volunteer municipal firefighters from stations one, two and five faced temperatures of 31-33 degrees with the humidity, in an effort to participate in training exercises in the Mobile Live Fire unit from the Ontario Fire College.
The training was to facilitate the opportunity for firefighters to complete multiple National Fire Protection Association Standard for firefighter professional qualifications skills.
Based at Geraldton’s municipality administration office, some residents took time to come by and watch the various scenarios as they took place.
Greenstone fire and emergency services also hosted four firefighters from the Hornepayne fire department, and one firefighter from the Marathon fire department as they participated in training along with local volunteers.
The Municipal Director of Fire Services, Jeff Lipskie, said, “The Ontario Fire College MLFTU allows us to train our firefighters in a realistic and safe environment. It is a modernisation of traditional live fire training that allows our members to be presented with the extreme working conditions they may be challenged with in a structure fire. The training lets us perform actual job tasks in a controlled and safe atmosphere, allowing our members to hone their skills.”
Residents who visited the area were able to see first hand the Mobile Live Fire Training Unit, which is a 53-foot modern unit designed to travel to municipalities that do not have access to safe, reliable Live Fire Training props.
There are only two of these units available in Ontario. According to the posting on the Municipality of Greenstone Facebook, “The unit imitates that of an actual structure fire where firefighters are confronted with real flames, heat, smoke, high humidity, and severely restricted visibility. Various scenarios such as kitchen fires, rollovers, and search and rescue initiatives are performed using the unit.”
