Province to Replace Live Fire Training Building in Brandon

BRANDON—The Manitoba government will replace the live fire training building at the Manitoba Emergency Services College (MESC) in Brandon, Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for the Office of the Fire Commissioner, announced here today.

“The Manitoba Emergency Services College here in Brandon is a critical training facility for firefighters and we want to ensure they have the best teaching tools available so when they graduate they are ready to respond to emergencies and save lives,” Squires said. “This building has been heavily used for more than two decades and needs to be upgraded so students can train safely for this important career.”

The live fire training building is 22 years old and must either be upgraded or replaced in order to meet current national training standards. The building, known as a ‘burn house’, is specifically designed and built so that students can fight fires and experience real-life situations in a safe, controlled environment. Over the life of the building, thousands of students have used the facility to put into practice the skills they acquired at the college.

The new building will be specially designed to suit the college’s site at the Brandon airport, with construction expected to begin next spring, Squires noted. The old building will remain in use while the new facility is under construction so there will be no loss of training time for students.

The MESC trains professional structural firefighters and paramedics. Approximately 40 students graduate from the college every year, and take up careers with emergency service agencies in Manitoba and across Canada.