2 London firefighters injured during water rescue training exercise

Two firefighters were hospitalized Friday morning with non-life threatening injuries following an incident during a water rescue training exercise, London fire officials said.

Few details have been released at this point, but Acting Deputy Fire Chief Jack Burt said the incident happened around 11 a.m. at Fanshawe Lake while the two members were out on the water.

“There was an issue with one of the boats… When the issue occurred with the boats, that’s when the incident occurred injuring two firefighters,” Burt said.

“Immediately we activated our Rapid Intervention Teams, put them into the water, to make sure that all members of London Fire Department were secured and safe.”

No further details have been released about what occurred during the training exercise.

Both firefighters were in stable condition as of Friday afternoon. Burt said the expectation was that both would be released by the end of the day.

“It highlights the dangerous job that our firefighters do on a day-in, day-out basis. The reason that we train is so they’re prepared when something happens, and today we were prepared,” Burt said.

The Ministry of Labour has been notified and will investigate the incident. The Office of the Fire Marshal and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority has also been notified.

Burt said no further detail about what happened during the training exercise would be released by the department to respect the investigation process.