Canadian Armed Forces and first responders team up for training in Wasaga Beach
With fire season just around the corner, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) teamed up with local first responders in Wasaga Beach on Saturday to enhance their readiness in the event of a domestic emergency.
Together, they took part in a joined training exercise to practice their response to a simulated wildfire.
“We need to make sure our people are trained and understand how to work with, communicate with and help to augment civilian governments,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Moriche.
The 200-plus troops from 32 Canadian Brigade Group were joined by Wasaga Beach Firefighters, County of Simcoe paramedics, and OPP officers.
A collaboration between three levels of emergency services Craig Williams, Wasaga Beach fire chief said is a crucial part of responding to a domestic disaster.
“It’s a unique opportunity to train together, we do want to train with the Canadian Armed Forces and be prepared to work collaboratively if we do have a larger emergency," said Williams.
The troops and first responders practiced rescue exercises such as casualty care, evacuation, search-and-rescue, and fighting a simulated wildfire.
“In Canada, we see every year more and more requirements for the armed forces to assist local community partners with responding to natural disasters, these give us proper training situations that can get troops where they need to be when they are deployed in a domestic situation", said Sergeant Scott Morrison.
The wooded area behind the old Wasaga Beach Arena was also an ideal location to simulate the environment of a real-life forest fire.
Saturday’s exercise was the final major exercise of the CAF’s annual training cycle.
The troops will be standing by to respond to any domestic emergencies that could occur throughout the summer, especially after they were simultaneously deployed across the country during last year’s historic fire season.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
What we've learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The Israel-Hamas war is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest
Administrators on some campuses have called in local police to break up pro-Palestinian protesters demanding that their schools divest from Israel in demonstrations that Israel's allies say are antisemitic and make campuses unsafe. From Columbia University in New York to the University of California, Los Angeles, thousands of students and faculty have been arrested in the past month.
Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' state TV says without further details
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.