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Bill Hunter figures he’s spent thousands of hours training over nearly two decades at the Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst.
The Perth East and West Perth fire chief was surprised this week when it was announced the college would be decommissioned in March and replaced by regional training centres and online courses, a move he said will potentially compromise safety and cost municipalities money.
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Fire chiefs split over decision to decommission Ontario Fire College Back to video
“I can just imagine the outcry if the announcement was to close the Ontario Police College (in Aylmer), and we’ll train all police constables at centres around the province,” Hunter said. “If we don’t have the bricks and mortar in Gravenhurst, I hope we have that (Ontario Fire College) oversight at all regional training centres. There’s 20 of them right now, and can they honestly say all 20 offer the same level of training for the same course all across the province? That’s where I’m hoping … they kind of police the training and make sure everybody is being instructed properly.”