P.E.I.'s only fire training centre unveiled

P.E.I. has a new fire training facility, which was unveiled Friday near Miltonvale Park.  

The chief instructor of the school, Miles Boulter, said it's a big step up. The facility is the only one of its kind on the Island.

"We made do with what we had, we were grateful for what we had, really grateful for what we've got now," Boulter said.  

Classes used to be held in a small trailer on the same property as the new training facility, but the largely volunteer firefighting force outgrew the space.  

The new building can fit twice as many students. The new facility also has a heated truck bay which will make things much easier on both the students and the trucks in winter, said Boulter.  

"It'll extend the life of them, and it means we'll be able to start training Level 1 in February, where before we had to wait until the end of March before it got warm enough to do anything," he said.

The provincial government contributed $506,300 through the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Capital Construction budget for construction of the facility, and $150,000 through the Island Communities Fund. The P.E.I. Fire Fighters Association provided $160,000 towards the project.  

In honour of Boulter's 40 years of service, the new building and the street where the building is located have been named after him.  

"It's quite an honour," he said. "Most people wait until they're dead. This happened before I died. Maybe they're [trying to] tell me something."