SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A new facility to help firefighters and mine rescue teams train for building fires celebrated its grand opening last week.

Members of the Yellowknife Fire Department practise rescuing a simulated victim from the new burn structure at the NWT Emergency Services Training Centre at the Yellowknife Airport. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

The facility, located at the NWT Emergency Services Training Centre near the Yellowknife Airport, is a modular building that will allow first responders to conduct training in real fire situations.

Kim Truter, president and CEO of Diavik Diamond Mine attended the event.

"The problem we had in the North was that we needed more sophisticated training, and for that we had to fly south," said Truter. "So having a facility like this in the North is really important because if we do have a nasty incident, we can make sure local firefighters and the mine rescue personnel are well trained," said Truter.

Gordon Frowen, who works for BHP Billiton at the Ekati diamond mine, was excited to see and test out the new facility.

"This is going to be fantastic," said Frowen. "We were exploring the possibility of going to Alberta for some live fire training and now this is going to save us two travel days and we can use that time for training."

"I'm tickled to be here today. It's great. I'm looking forward to smoking this place up a few times over the next couple of months," said Frowen.

The live burn facility is only one part of the NWT Emergency Services Training Centre. It also includes an area to practise extricating people from vehicle collisions, and the fuselage of a Boeing 737.

Deputy fire chief Jason Davidson said that the new burn structure will help improve training for firefighters, allowing them to place simulated victims in the building.

"The new facility will allow us to train in live fire situations, with all the smoke and hazards that come along with it," said Davidson.

The new facility is the result of cooperation between the City of Yellowknife, BHP Billiton, Diavik Diamond Mine and the Department of Transportation.

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