Over the next couple of weeks, Edmontonians might notice firefighters doing winter swift water rescue training on the North Saskatchewan River.
Keeping these skills up-to-date is part of training requirements, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said in a news release Wednesday.
Winter swift water rescue operations are among “the highest risk activities for fire rescue personnel,” EFRS said.
The river training will take place between Jan. 3 and Jan. 20 and will take place in groups of up to 30 firefighters.
“Appropriate training and deployment are critical to ensuring the safety of our firefighters and the public,” Fire Chief Joe Zatlyny said.
“That means our crews have to train in the conditions we operate in and that includes cold winter days, which makes such operations extra challenging and increases the importance of this type of training.”
Of Edmonton’s 30 fire stations, 19 currently provide water rescue services. Eight of those 19 stations have a group of staff trained for and dedicated to swift water response on the North Saskatchewan River and other flowing water. All 19 stations have qualified staff equipped to respond to lakes, storm water ponds and other non-flowing bodies of water, EFRS said.
Edmontonians are asked to give the training firefighters room to work and stay away from ice shelves and river banks.
If a person or pet falls through the ice, call 911 then keep track of where they were last seen, don’t try to rescue them, and report any incidents to 311.
EFRS said fire response times will not be impacted during the training.