Preparing for the real thing

P.E.I. Firefighters School provides critical training for people who fight fires in this province

Before firefighters in Prince Edward Island – volunteer or career – head out to help people across the province, they will have spent time learning lessons in school – the P.E.I. Firefighters School in Milton Station, to be exact.

The facility provides training to all of the 1,500 firefighters in the province. It is currently training about 120 firefighters.

On site is a base building that houses two fire trucks and firefighting equipment, which students learn to operate. There is also a lecture room where fire-related classes are held and fire extinguisher training is conducted for both public and private facilities.

Heather Horne, the deputy chief instructor of the fire school, along with chief instructor Shannon Dumville gave Saltwire a tour of the facility earlier this month. Horne said most of the equipment in the building was acquired through various agencies and donations, while some was bought. She also said the equipment has proven to be useful in teaching the students how to note things when responding to fire calls and how to operate it.

“It's really important that they get to see everything that we can possibly teach them and show them. We also try to maintain our equipment and show our students how equipment should be maintained because as a school, you really need to make sure you set the standard.”

TRAINING

To receive training from the fire school, volunteers must first become members of a volunteer fire department. To become a member, one can contact the fire department in their jurisdiction.

Usually, the fire department requires individuals to be members for a short period of time before sending them to the fire school.

A section of the fire school called the warehouse is where most of the physical obstacle course training happens.

There is a full two-storey house in the warehouse designed by the former chief to replicate his residence. This structure is used for various

“It’s really important that they get to see everything that we can possibly teach them and show them.”

Heather Horne

firefighter training exercises, including practising getting on and down a roof using ladders. The safe, controlled setting allows trainers and instructors to accompany firefighters without worrying about adverse weather conditions or falling from heights.

Inside, the two-storey building looks like a regular residence, but it was designed to be a dark house-like structure with big jars placed at the entrance. These jars serve as obstacles that replicate the reality of fire calls where firefighters may come across different obstacles when they receive a call. The items inside the house are moved around during training and sometimes distorted to make it look like a real home.

Dumville also pointed out an egress window in the building, which is used to train volunteers how to enter a house when other entry points are not accessible. A ladder is placed on the egress, allowing them to access the window from outside as well.

Outside the warehouse is another section of the fire school, known as the live fire simulator. It looks like a compilation of various shipping containers, which are heated up to 300 to 400 degrees during training. This simulates the temperature firefighters could experience when entering a burning building. In this simulator, firefighters would perform various tasks such as searching for victims within the building.

The fire school has operated for 25 years and relies mostly on volunteers who run almost every part of it. Dumville had been volunteering with the school since 2005 until a little more than three years ago when he was hired as the chief instructor, which is a paid position. He said volunteers are a huge part of the fire service in P.E.I.

“Without volunteer firefighters, there would be no fire service on P.E.I. The only fire department on P.E.I. currently that has career firefighters is Charlottetown, and those are very minimal. A large portion of them are volunteers.”

He said he enjoys working at the fire school, adding the best part is seeing people who come through the school overcoming their fears.

The fire school also hosted a celebration on International Women’s Day, March 8, where it honoured female first responders. The event also celebrated the first female firefighter in Canada, Karen Morrison, who is from P.E.I.

VIVIAN ULINWA • THE GUARDIAN Heather Horne, deputy chief instructor at the P.E.I. Fire School in Milton Station, stands inside a two-storey house that is used for various firefighter training activities. The building is usually kept dark so that firefighters who are learning to carry out specific safety tasks can have a better understanding of what it would be like to have to perform a rescue in a house that is dark and sometimes filled with smoke. It also contains various obstacles to help firefighters prepare for the reality of what they might encounter on fire calls.

VIVIAN ULINWA • SALTWIRE Shannon Dumville, the chief instructor at the P.E.I. Firefighters School, putts on a firefighter’s face mask. When firefighters receive a fire call, wearing this mask is mandatory as the building is often filled with smoke, which can be hazardous when inhaled. This mask is connected to an oxygen container, which allows firefighter to breathe in fresh air while carrying out their tasks.