Irving Oil And City Of Saint John Announce Enhanced Collaboration On Emergency-preparedness
SAINT JOHN, NB — Irving Oil is celebrating the grand-opening of its new Grandview Avenue Emergency Services Building and the addition of a new, custom-built Emergency Response Ladder Truck. The four-bay, 7,000 square foot facility will serve as a new home and training centre for the Irving Oil Fire Response Team.
The Irving Oil facility will also be the future home of the Saint John Fire Department (SJFD) training centre. This location will enable the SJFD to deliver training for members of their brigade and to other entities, including municipalities and businesses. The partnership will see Irving Oil provide the space, the site servicing work and a state-of- the art training classroom. In return, the SJFD will deliver a variety of emergency planning, preparation, and response training programs to the Irving Oil Refinery Fire Brigade and Irving Oil employees.
The training facility will include a number of industrial and residential fire training props, one of which is a Live Fire Emergency Training Structure, recently purchased by the City of Saint John. The facility will also house a custom-built administrative classroom provided by Irving Oil.
The Saint John Fire Department comprises 136 firefighters and 30 holiday relief personnel.
“This unique partnership represents new opportunities for the City of Saint John to further collaborate with Irving Oil, to partner with other industries and to generate revenue through training programs,” says City of Saint John Mayor Mel Norton.
“Safety is paramount to everything we do at Irving Oil and the new Emergency Services Building and Emergency Response Ladder Truck will provide best-in-class facilities and tools for our brigade,” says Mark Sherman, General Manager of the Irving Oil Refinery. ”As we developed plans for the facility, collaboration with the City of Saint John felt like a natural opportunity, for everyone’s benefit. In sharing resources and expertise, we can offer training and emergency response on a level we have not had before.”
“Through cooperation and joint training, the Saint John Fire Department and Irving Oil’s response team will become more efficient and effective in mitigating incidents that might occur at the refinery,” says Kevin Clifford, Fire Chief of the Saint John Fire Department. “We’ll be better prepared to respond to emergency incidents across the city, which is a benefit to the entire community. We’ll also be able to share this expertise with other organizations.”
The Saint John Fire Department’s training facility will open on the Grandview Avenue site in May 2014.
City of Saint John
The City of Saint John provides over 40 public facing municipal services to residents, business and visitors. Operating since 1786, the SJFD provides fire rescue and suppression, technical rescue, hazardous materials emergency response, fire prevention, fire investigation, and medical first responder services across the 126 square mile municipality. For more information please visit www.saintjohn.ca/fire
Irving Oil
Irving Oil is a privately owned regional energy and marketing company that provides Eastern Canada and New England with high-quality products and customer service. Founded in 1924 and based in Saint John, New Brunswick, the company operates Canada’s largest refinery, producing in excess of 320,000 barrels of finished products every day. For more information about Irving Oil and its community programs, please visit us at https://www.irvingoil.com/ or follow us at facebook.com/irvingoil
Media Contacts:
Nancy Moar
Communications Manager, City of Saint John
506.648-3715
nancy.moar@saintjohn.ca
Sam Robinson
Public Affairs, Irving Oil
506.650.4947
sam.robinson@irvingoil.com