By Mike Anderson
Local firefighters have a new training facility to help fine-tune their skills, improving their ability to protect property and save lives.
On July 7, the Town officially opened Georgina Fire and Rescue Services’ (GFRS) new live-fire training tower at the Town’s Egypt Roads Yard, 25765 Park Road, south of Highway 48.
The tower is four storeys high and constructed from eight sea cans, or overseas shipping containers, which allow combustible materials to be ignited inside the facility, simulating a real house or apartment fire.
Local fire crews can now practice fire suppression, rope rescue between floors, laddering, and roof operations under live-fire conditions.
The training tower, which is now considered one of the best in Ontario, has so far cost $1.3 million.
However, the total project cost is $1.6 million, according to the Town’s 2025 budget, with $1.1 million drawn from Development Charges Reserves, and $550,436 from the Ministry of Labour’s Skills Development Fund (SDF).
The provincial grant was awarded because the tower will also be used by fire services in surrounding municipalities, including East Gwillimbury, Whitchurch-Stouffville, and Brock, that don’t have their own training facility.
According to Fire Chief Ron Jenkins, the tower will be rented out on a cost-recovery basis, covering the costs of labour, combustible materials used, and building maintenance.
“This is a fantastic day for our suppression firefighters,” Jenkins told the Post.
“This has been a long time coming and wouldn’t have happened without the support of council.”
Jenkins says the tower will help local firefighters train for the most challenging fires and ensure they are prepared for any situation.
“When a fire officer arrives on scene, he needs to know that the firefighters he’s assigned are capable and confident of doing that task. We don’t have time to double-check. They’ve got to know what they’re doing,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins adds the facility will also help address the challenges of a composite fire service, like Georgina’s, which relies heavily on volunteer firefighters, to cover the largest geographical area in York Region.
“We have a significant amount of turnover with our volunteer firefighters. On average, between 12 to 15 volunteers have to be replaced every year. And it takes over 480 hours to train a firefighter. This gives us the ability to give them real-world experience, and now they don’t have to travel to do it.”
The nearest training facility is in Richmond Hill, and, according to Jenkins, sending crews for training there is costly and time-consuming.
It also impacts the fire service, as fire crews being trained are too far away to respond to local emergency calls, requiring GFRS to call in neighbouring fire departments in some situations.
“A few years ago we had two houses burning down on Lake Drive, and a significant boat fire. We had the resources at the fires in a timely fashion, but the resources we needed to protect our community were down in Richmond Hill. So, we had to implement mutual aid to get East Gwillimbury to assist us.”
Jenkins adds that continual training is vital to protect lives and property, especially since today’s fires burn faster and more intensely.
“Buildings have changed. There is more lightweight construction. When I started, people falling through floors during a fire wasn’t a thing. Now it’s a thing,” Jenkins said.
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