The arrival of spring officially marked the commencement of this year’s training season, with the first of 28 planned Regional Training and Assessment events taking place in Winnipeg, Manitoba (March 22 -24), and the first of a dozen planned Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Level 1 Operations Firefighting Training sessions held in Prince Rupert, British Columbia this weekend.

Additionally, our online training has picked up and we have now seen registrations for our LPG Firefighting Awareness Online Course surpass 3,300, while signups for our Incident Command System 100 and 200 courses have topped 2,200! Please note that Canadian-based first responders (firefighters, police, EMS) can take our LPG Firefighting Awareness Online training and ICS 100 and 200 courses free of charge. These courses will be valuable to any first responder who may be involved in a response to an LPG or flammable liquids emergency.

If you have any questions about our training courses, please feel free to drop us a line. 

Spencer Buckland
President

ERAC would like to thank Yan Desmarais for his 6 years of service with our organization and his excellent work as the Response Team Leader for Superior Propane Montreal’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) response team. Yan played an instrumental role in setting up the Superior Montreal team and establishing it as one of the most reliable LPG response teams in the country. Good luck in your future endeavours, Yan!

Every year, ERAC conducts a Regional Training and Assessment (Regional) of each ERAC liquefied petroleum gas and flammable liquids response team. These annual assessments provide an opportunity for all ERAC responders to hone their skills and get updates on any new industry trends and developments, while they are assessed and approved to respond to incidents on behalf of ERAC’s Plan Participant members.

LPG Level 1 Operations Firefighting Training Course  

Each year, ERAC holds several Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Level 1 Operations Firefighting training courses for first responders across Canada. Course participants review commonly encountered LPG emergencies, work through strategies and tactics to safely manage the situation and complete their training with “live burn” exercises. Instructors are ERAC full-time technical advisors with NFPA 1041 instructor credentials. Many of our participants are on-call firefighters in their community.

The following training sessions have now been scheduled for the next quarter:

April 22 & 23 – Terrace, BC

May 27 & 28 – Burns Lake, BC

June 3 & 4 – Smithers, BC

June 15 & 16 – Ontario Hazardous Materials Responders Association Conference – Niagara Falls, ON

ERAC has developed its own versions of the Incident Command System (ICS) 100 and 200 courses to support our responders in meeting the basics of ICS. These two internal adaptations are intended to meet the requirement for ERAC responders who respond to transportation (rail & road) incidents involving liquefied petroleum gases and flammable liquids.

ERAC’s ICS 100 and 200 courses are available for free to Canadian-based first responders (firefighters, police, EMS) and our Plan Participant members and their employees.

Learn more about our ICS courses.

2023 Leo Sichewski Memorial Bursary Applications Close April 30

A little over six years ago, Leo Sichewski, a valued 24-year veteran of ERAC passed away. In memory of Leo, we created the ERAC Leo Sichewski Memorial bursary fund that provides financial assistance to qualified recipients who are enrolled in a certificate, diploma or degree program in safety, emergency management or first responder training. The bursary is open to Plan Participant members, ERAC responders, and family members of each group. You can find more details about the bursary here.

Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2023.