KINGSTON — Firefighters from across Ontario, including seven from Kingston Fire and Rescue, took part in an intensive training course this week at Centre 70.
The course, provided by the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, involved 70 firefighters from 14 departments.
“The GTA departments get quite a bit of resources and training, but outside the GTA this is something we’ve identified that’s lacking,” said Bob McCutcheon of the OPFFA. “Firefighter safety and looking after themselves. They’re usually pretty good at looking after the safety of the people they respond to but not so much for themselves.”
The fire ground survival course is described as a “train the trainer” program and includes a mix of classroom and practical instruction.
The course’s goal is to teach participants how to navigate in a structure with reduced visibility and space and how to get themselves and their fellow firefighters out of a building in an emergency.
it is expected that those who pass and receive their qualifications will then bring the information back to their departments and instruct their colleagues.
“It’s typically smaller departments that don’t have the resources, they don’t have the staff and maybe don’t have a full compliment,” explained Craig Jeffries, an instructor with the International Association of Fire Fighters. “When they leave here, they’ll have the support of both the OPFFA and the International Association of Firefighters to deliver this program to their personnel.”
While Kingston has its own training facility, this week’s program was valuable for the information the instructors brought with them, said KFR Dep. Fire Chief Don Carter.
“When a firefighter has to call a mayday and they’re in trouble that is hard to simulate,” Carter said. “We try and train to as close as possible as we can to the real situations.”