From the outside, it just looks like sea containers sitting side by side, but when put to use, it provides for a beneficial training ground for Riverview Fire and Rescue.

A ribbon cutting was held yesterday on the Niagara Road, to unveil a new training facility.

The containers have been welded together to resemble the layout of a three bedroom home inside..

Chief Robin True says this is a big advancement for the region, “We do want to have an element of realism so the firefighter that takes a Firefighter level 1 course before they go into their first business fire or house fire that they’ve seen what real heat feels like in a burn facility.”

An expansion of the facility is planned by 2026 with the addition of three more containers to create a two storey home

“We’re putting three more sea containers for a second level, which will have an interior stairway, so we’ll basically have a two storey home when we are done. In addition to that, we’ll have another sea container for confined space rescue, along with a cement pad for auto extrication, outside prop for gas fires, flammable gases and the last thing shelter for firefighters rehabilitation,” True added.

A post shared by 919 The Bend News (@919thebendnews)

There are two storage water tanks that have been installed in the ground on site for use, and Public Works keeps them full of water.

Up to $40,000 has been spent so far to build this new training area, and the Chief says it’ll cost around $70,000 additional to finish it.

“It’s a fairly economical way of building a training facility and it obviously allows us to do quite a few burns over several years with the facility. We’re fortunate we only have six to 8 house fires per year.. The fewer structure fires makes this training that much more important, because you don’t get the opportunity to put your skills to practice when you don’t have that many structure fires.”

Riverview Fire and Rescue currently has 28 volunteer and 20 career firefighter paramedics.

True adds, “It’s a really big advancement for training in Riverview and also for the Southeast region. Recently, we hosted the Southeastern Firefighters Association for a training day. It has allowed other firefighters in the region who don’t have access to a training facility to have access,” True stated.

Before this training area was established, firefighters would have travelled two hours each way to facilities in Fredericton, Miramichi or Prince Edward Island.

As tactics for fighting fires change over the year, True adds, “This will allow us to employ different tactics as the science advances we can it to practice on the fire ground, which is the whole idea.”