Skip to main content

North Bay crews train for emergency rescues on ice and cold water

Share

Members of North Bay's fire service are on Trout Lake all week practising ice and cold water rescues.

Fire chief Jason Whiteley said his team hasn't had to rescue anyone yet this winter, but there have been a few close calls.

The training on Trout Lake is part of a new certification that firefighters will need to have. Whiteley said the week hasn't been easy.

"The test consists of a 200-metre swim and it's timed,” Whiteley said.

“Then, they have to do a 50-metre swim rescuing somebody then we finish it off with a 15-minute treading water test. We've done all kinds of different scenarios – self-rescuing, we have gotten into how the current and flows ... Because we are wearing flotation devices, the way the person floats on the water will be much different than that person who's under water."

The Ontario Fire Marshall is in charge of this week’s training. 

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected