By Roy Wood
Town administration is recommending that Osoyoos council approve an agreement between its fire department and Oliver’s, under which the two groups will share each other’s training facilities.
Osoyoos fire chief Ryan McCaskill told ODN that the two departments “have worked together a lot” and it makes sense for them to use the different training options each of them offers.
The Oliver firefighters will come to Osoyoos to use the training tower at the new fire hall to practice techniques for fighting fires in multi storey buildings.
Specifically, they will work on using an existing “stand pipe” in burning buildings to avoid having to carry charged hoses into the building.
Osoyoos firefighters will have access to the “live fire container” located at the Oliver airport. Basically, stuff gets lit on fire and the crews practise extinguishing the mock blaze.