June 10, 2011
Province Expands Use of Fire-prevention Trailers Across Manitoba
– – –20 Trailers to be Provided, Helping to Raise Fire-prevention Awareness: Howard
Twenty new fire-prevention trailers will be available across the province to support fire-prevention awareness, Labour and Immigration Minister Jennifer Howard announced today.
“We know that fire prevention saves lives and these specially designed trailers provide hands-on lessons about the importance of fire safety,” said Howard. “We are excited about the partnerships that are allowing this expansion right across the province.”
Four trailers, valued at $50,000 each, will be completed this year, thanks to the financial support of Red River Mutual as well as the Manitoba Fire Fighters Burn Fund and the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC). Another 16 trailers will be completed over the next five years. The trailers will be provided to mutual aid districts, which are a collection of municipalities within a specific area that work together under the direction of the OFC to provide emergency-response service, education and training.
“We are very proud to support the Manitoba Fire Fighters Burn Fund and fire-prevention education throughout Manitoba,” said Brian Esau, president and CEO of Red River Mutual. “Our company is committed to protecting people from loss and we’re excited about helping to get these prevention trailers into the community teaching fire prevention at schools, festivals and other events.”
The Manitoba Fire Fighters Burn Fund has been co-ordinating the development of these prevention trailers for many years and has also been fundraising for the project, Howard noted.
The new trailers will be designed and built in Manitoba, after extensive consultations with mutual aid districts already using fire-prevention trailers. Building on their experiences and suggestions, the new trailers will offer effective, real-life, hands-on fire-prevention education. The first completed trailer was unveiled today at the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs conference in Brandon.
The trailers target elementary school-aged children and are designed to look just like a house. Children learn about fire safety through the use of props like smoke machines and heated doors that simulate a real fire in a home. The trailers will also have a mock kitchen and bedroom with the ability to simulate a fire in each of those settings. They also offer:
- accessibility for students with disabilities,
- a working bedroom window to simulate an escape route,
- an instruction area for children to listen to a safety presentation,
- a flat-screen TV visible from outside the trailer that can show fire-prevention messages to waiting students, and
- a self-contained control room for the instructor to manipulate the props.
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