Essential upgrades help southern Ontario firefighters avoid tragedy
It was a perilous situation, with lives on the line. Called to the scene of a highway collision, firefighters from Haldimand County, ON, Emergency Services were met with a blaze enveloping a tanker truck that was transporting diesel.
A passenger vehicle had been involved in the crash, too—and the driver wasn’t responding.
Thankfully, this type of call is infrequent, says Rob Grimwood, fire chief and emergency management co-ordinator in Haldimand County, near Hamilton. Having recently undergone hazardous materials training, his crew knew how to respond to the diesel fire: within minutes, the fire fighters had extinguished the flames, isolated the release of diesel from the truck, and removed the motorist, who was sent to hospital.
“That was a huge success for us in a very high-risk, very dangerous scenario,” says Grimwood. “It may not have gone as smooth as it did, had we not done so much hazardous materials training.”
Grimwood’s team of 275 volunteer firefighters had recently completed special training on hazardous materials, with support from Enbridge’s Safe Community program. The grant also allowed Haldimand County’s emergency services to purchase extra portable radios, so every firefighter involved could communicate and call for help.
In addition to these items, another Safe Community grant cheque, delivered this week in the amount of $10,000, is supporting Haldimand County’s first responders with:
- A revamped public education program, with emergency preparedness kits and information pamphlets for the public;
- Firefighting foam; and
- Special nozzles to better suppress hazardous-materials fires.
These items “make us much more efficient and safe,” says Grimwood, who adds that advancements in technology mean gear and equipment need to be replaced regularly. “We don’t have the financial wherewithal to continuously keep up with all advancements and improvements,” he remarks. “That’s where this funding really helps.”
Enbridge’s Safe Community program provides grants to emergency services departments in communities near our projects and operations – including the Line 10 Westover Segment Replacement Project, which involves the proposed replacement of about 35 kilometres of our Line 10 pipeline in southern Ontario, from Enbridge’s Westover Terminal to the Binbrook area in the city of Hamilton.
Pending regulatory approval, this segment of Line 10, which runs through the territory served by Haldimand County emergency services, is scheduled for replacement in 2017.
Grimwood says his firefighters view Enbridge’s Safe Community support as “a good example of partnership with organizations within the community . . . when they’re comfortable with their knowledge, they’re going to operate safer, they’re less likely to make any mistakes, they have confidence in their skills.”
Adds Ken Hall, Enbridge’s Ontario-based senior advisor of public affairs: “We want to ensure firefighters are well-equipped to do their jobs safely, so they can go home at the end of the day.”
