New learning hub for volunteer firefighters in Oxford County will bring variety of training

Volunteer firefighter training will become more accessible in Oxford County as five of its rural fire service groups have turned into a regional training centre (RTC) for the Ontario Fire College.

The Norwich Fire Service along with departments in Blandford-Blenheim, South-West Oxford, Zorra and East Zorra-Tavistock will soon be offering in-house training courses to anyone across the province who wants to work as a volunteer firefighter. 

"It's an excellent opportunity for us, everyone's very excited because it's going to mean a greater variety of training we'll be able to offer within our own departments," said Derek Van Pagee, director of fire services for the Township of Norwich, east of London. 

The RTC also means that the Ontario Fire College will now fund the municipalities to pay instructors and course developers. Previously, the fire departments would have to pay their instructors out of pocket, Van Pagee said. 

As of 2022, the province requires all firefighters to have mandatory minimum certification standards by July 1, 2026, to ensure that firefighters have consistent training according to the level of service set by their municipalities. 

The RTC will help ease some challenges of fighting fires in rural areas because it will have a centralized training system to certify firefighters in multiple disciplines before the 2026 deadline, said Van Pagee. 

"Rural firefighting is a whole different beast in the sense that when a pager goes off, you might be in a situation where you're the lead because it comes down to who is available at that time so they have to be certified in a whole variety of disciplines to do all those different jobs because you might be called on any one," he said. 

Van Pagee said a growing number of fire departments are looking into creating RTCs to amplify their training and prepare for the future. There is an existing RTC in nearby Elgin County. 

With 325 volunteer firefighters in Norwich, the department has struggled to fill its courses but Van Pagee hopes the new training hub will motivate people from other municipalities to join in. 

"In rural services, this is obviously a volunteer position so we offer training on weekends and hybrid models where it caters to [trainees'] schedules," he said. 

The fire services are also celebrating a $30 million investment over three years for personal equipment to protect firefighters from carcinogens that can cause cancer. Each department can expect to receive between $8,000 and $10,000 per station.

"We hope everyone gets some stuff to lower those cancer rates and keep our firefighters safe," said Van Pagee, who has applied for bunker gear washers in three stations and protective particulate hoods for firefighters to wear. 

The RTC will offer in-class courses, including training to become instructors and public fire safety educators starting in January.