Myslavelake.com

No, we’re not being invaded by aliens, they are members of your local volunteer fire department participating in a simulated incident involving very dangerous chemicals.

The purpose of the training, which took place in early June, was to better prepare the Lesser Slave Regional Fire Service (Hall 1) in responding to incidents involving hazardous material. Part of the training required firefighters to respond in level A suits to contain chemicals

 ”Now we have a dangerous goods team which is going to be able to respond in our area,” says Jamie Coutts, Fire Chief.

Slave Lake Town Council recently gave approval to raise the level of service for Hall 1 to respond to hazardous materials at an operational level. Volunteer Firefighter Jim Meldrum says this approval was recognizing the fact that the Fire Department already responds to a number of incidents each year that involve hazardous materials.

The training was attended by over 20 volunteer firefighters from Slave Lake, Widewater, Smith, Wabasca, and Spirit River. The training included 2 days of classroom instruction and 2 days of practical skills and real life simulated scenarios.

Firefighters will now have the skills and equipment to safely come into close proximity to toxic spills in order to contain hazardous materials and to prevent further contamination or spreading to areas where it may harm people or property.

Training was provided by Curtis Myson, a dangerous goods specialist for the Railway Association of Canada, who has responded to numerous industrial, railway and highway dangerous goods incidents.

“Slave Lake and area is fortunate to have a number of very dedicated volunteers willing to sacrifice free time to obtain training and to respond to all incidents at any time of the day or night to help serve our community and to make it a better place to live,” said Meldrum.