A $3 million investment by the Ministry of the Solicitor General means the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office now has a pair of Dräger modular training units it can deploy to rural areas.

The immersive training units offer fire suppression, pumper operations, and incident management systems. 

There is also now a certified training area in Picton; the lot adjacent to Station 1 on McDonald Drive is now open for business. 

A firefighter staff initiative led by Steve Everall and backed by many community partners, including Base31, Dan Claxton Electric, Burley Excavating, Fennell Concrete, Vaughn Concrete, and Picton Home Hardware, as well as the municipality, created the training grounds with $35,000 over two years.

“Firefighters pitched an idea, laid out a path to make it happen and engaged community partners to make this vision a reality. With this training area in place, it’s allowing the firefighters to sleep in their own beds and not travel to complete the training they need to be certified,” said Deputy Chief Tim Kraemer. 

“I can’t wait to see how this grows our fire service over the coming years.”

The unit offers a variety of training scenarios. Simulated fires are created with propane burners and can easily be adjusted and reset from a control station.   Rescue crews will be able to practice vehicle extraction, hose and ladder climbs, and other kinds of training at various times of the day to keep their skills sharp. Hauled by a tractor trailer truck from community to community, the unit is staffed with Ontario Fire College Course instructors.

During the ten days it was stationed in Picton, a host of veterans updated their skills, and local volunteer firefighters from the County, Mohawk, Tyendinaga and Stirling-Rawdon completed the training for Firefighter Level Two. 

By July 2026, any PECFR firefighter going into an involved structure will be required to be Firefighter 2 certified.