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Fire fighting students to receive training assistance from Canada’s natural gas industry

Feb. 8, British Columbia — Fire fighting students at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) will have access to additional training resources thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed recently between JIBC and the Canadian Gas Association (CGA).

“We are pleased to partner with the Canadian Gas Association to improve our training of first responders in natural gas safety and the handling of related emergencies,” said Dr. Michel Tarko, JIBC president and CEO, in a news release. “This is part of JIBC’s ongoing commitment to work with industry stakeholders to ensure we develop and deliver relevant and responsive programming and curriculum to our students. There can be no better authority and source of educational resources on the subject than the industry itself.”

CGA has had a long-standing partnership with the national fire fighting community, providing first responders with information on natural gas emergency response. This MOU with JIBC is designed to further enhance the industry’s culture of safety and security.

“In the natural gas delivery industry, safety is paramount. Part of our commitment to safety includes cooperation with important community partners like firefighters and those training to be first responders,” said Timothy Egan, president and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association, in a press statement. “This partnership with the Justice Institute of British Columbia will ensure their students have access to the most current information and best practices developed and used by the industry itself.”

The MOU will provide training resources to first responders across Canada by combining the subject matter expertise of the CGA with the curriculum and education expertise of JIBC. CGA will share with JIBC its online training and resources on the emergency response considerations of natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

As a result, JIBC students and clients will have free and easily accessible online training and resources that are current, relevant, and necessary for protecting and serving their communities. CGA will see improved safety awareness and emergency response in communities served by its industry partners and members.

“This MOU will benefit first responders by making valuable training resources more readily available and accessible,” said Charlene Jordan-Jones, director of JIBC’s Fire & Safety Division, in a news release “Every community has natural gas, LNG and CNG either in use or travelling through it so training and learning about emergency response considerations is essential.”

While the MOU is in effect, through April 2023, JIBC will make the CGA materials available for free to all Canadian emergency responder agencies and their personnel.