Former Windsor fire hall becomes St. Clair College firefighter training centre

The new St. Clair College Pre-Service Firefighter Training Centre at 1905 Cabana Rd W in Windsor, Ont. (Source: St. Clair College)

Windsor, Ont. -

Students and instructors in the Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training program at St. Clair College will be using a former Windsor fire hall for training.

The new St. Clair College Pre-Service Firefighter Training Centre at 1905 Cabana Rd W will also be used for performing lab work.

The two-bay fire station was previously operated by the Windsor Fire & Rescue Services since 1978 as Station No. 5, which served a largely residential neighbourhood in South Windsor.

In 2014, WFRS shuttered the aging fire hall and relocated Station No. 5 to 2650 Northwood St., next to Huron Church Road. Earlier this year, St. Clair purchased the property from the WFRS for use in the Pre-Service Firefighter program.

Windsor Fire Chief Stephen Laforet says anytime a Pre-Service program can mimic or replicate the experience of a real working fire hall, the better it will be for the students.

"Firefighting is like most trade professions where you learn the most by having the tools in your hands and using them as much as you can," Laforet said. "Now they have a good facility on hand which puts vehicles, ladders and tools at their fingertips to work on and train with. So I think this provides the students with an opportunity to have a good facility to train out of, and it brings them to the equipment more than they would have had before. I think this station will attract future students too."

Instructor Steve Appleyard says that training in a real fire hall will be a significant tool in student development for many years.

"All classes will still be at South Campus but student labs will be done at the new fire hall," Appleyard said. "In the past, we didn't have enough space, so we had to do our labs outside, and our props and equipment were all in different storage areas. With the new fire hall, all our lab props and equipment can now be utilized in one place."