A new training centre in Meaford will play a big role in putting hundreds of firefighters through their paces every year.
On Friday April 25, 2014, the Meaford Fire Department held an open house for the media to see what goes on during training – including teaching new recruits what to look for a do inside a dark, smokey building.
“You train like you fight so it’s the exact same as a real fire. You go in there, you beat on the floor to make sure you are not going to go through, you think about people that are in there, the most likely place they’re going to be and you just really concentrate and listen for screams,” says Meaford firefighter Dan Gillespie.
The centre has been recognized by the province as a new regional training facility.
“We are within a 90 minute drive to up to 40 different fire departments that can all take advantage of this training center,” says Meaford Fire Chief Mike Molloy.
The house is made from steel cargo containers and can be reconfigured thirty different ways to make each exercise different. The house cost $160,000 to build.
“When you go in there that's what we experience people of beds with zero visibility lots of noise,” added Molloy.
Firefighters are also trained in vehicle extrication and that’s not all. Crews also use a nearby field to practice fighting grass fires and an underground tunnel is used for confined space rescue exercises.
About 400 firefighters will go through the training centre every year. It is one of four new training centres recognized by the province.
