City fire officials are welcoming provincial funding for the local Specialized Disaster Search and Rescue Team.
North Bay is one of six municipalities to have teams, with the province announcing $150,000 for the city last week.
Deputy Fire Chief Greg Saunders tells BayToday the team has already been operating locally, but money will be used for additional training and equipment.
“There’s three different levels of Hazmat response and all of our personnel are going to be trained to a technician level so we’ll be able to basically perform the same functions at an incident as the teams from Toronto and Ottawa can,” he says.
Overall, Saunders says it’s a good news announcement.
“It’s a real coup for the city, because it enhances our ability to manage incidents within the City of North Bay, whereas in the past if there was an incident in the city, we would be responsible for the costs of managing the incident, now we can do it ourselves,” he says.
Across Ontario, $2.5 million is going to communities to respond quickly and effectively to large-scale and complex emergencies.
– Provide funding for teams with specialized rescue skills to help when people are trapped in collapsed structures, assist with life-saving operations and provide immediate medical assistance to survivors;
– Provide funding for teams responding to incidents involving the uncontrolled release of chemicals, biological agents, radioactive and nuclear contamination or explosions that cause widespread damage; and
– Enhance the province’s ability to respond to provincial emergencies and lead educational and training programs to improve emergency response.
The government’s investments will support 10 specialized teams in North Bay, Ottawa, Peterborough, Thunder Bay, Toronto and Windsor.
Officials say the funding supports initiatives that respond to recommendations from the Elliot Lake inquiry.

(photo by station staff)

Filed under: Greg Saunders, Hazmat, North Bay Fire Department