The Calgary Fire Department’s Training Academy is “˜going green’, introducing a one-of-a kind “˜community’ to help train new firefighters. The focus is not only on enhancing its training capabilities, but also preserving water.
“We were using 150 million litres of water annually. That’s roughly the same amount as 300 people in Canada would use in a year and we were flushing that down the drain. We’re not going to be doing that anymore,” says Fire Chief Bruce Burrell.
Water used during training exercises is now collected through the existing storm water system and re-directed to a series of wet ponds where it’s naturally treated. It eventually makes its way into a clean water reservoir, which connects to the on-site internal hydrant system for re-use.
Training officer Mark Turik says the reservoir is also ideal for aquatics rescue training.
“It’s a huge benefit for the dive team because in the past they would have to do the classroom work … then load up and move to either a pool offsite or use the lakes in town for doing that. Now it’s literally just a walk across the parking lot.”
The Fire Department is also introducing the ATCO village, a cluster of vacant single-family homes positioned on a street-like setting to simulate real-life scenarios, including fires and natural gas leaks. The installation of natural gas mains, services and meters as well as household appliances courtesy of ATCO gas, means the village has some of the most realistic training scenarios available to recruits and experienced firefighters.
The village will also be used to help train ATCO employees.
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