Local Fire Crews gain experience on handling industrial fires through weekend training

The answer to the black smoke of the weekend near the Lester Centre has been answered, with Canadian National outlining some background to a training session held to provide Prince Rupert Fire Rescue and Port Edward Fire Rescue with some insight into how to approach emergency response requirements.

The training which was sponsored by CN and AltaGas was designed to help make the fire fighters more familiar with the nature of propane related incidents and what is required to tackle them.

As part of a Social media relay of information CN/Alta Gas also showcased a few photos from Prince Rupert's Lonnie Wishart who was on hand for the exercise.

As the CN social media stream notes, the training in Prince Rupert was just one session in many that they have provided to over 32,000 first responders in North America over the last five years.

Port Edward Volunteer Firefighter Mike McDowall was part of this weekend's training session and posted a few photos from the program to his twitter feed as well.

Clock on twitter links above to review the shots of weekend work

The issue of preparation for industrial incidents has been a major concern for the District of Port Edward which has the CN Main line running through its community transiting to and from the facilities of the Port of Prince Rupert.

District Council has recently addressed a number of concerns of the need for better emergency preparation with Port Edward located as is, just down the line from the Liquid Propane facilities soon to open on the North Coast and the potential ahead for other industrial liquid cargo expected to pass through on their way to Port facilities.

For more notes related to Emergency Response in the Northwest see our archive page here.

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