Several local and area politicians and other dignitaries earned a whole new appreciation for the men and women of the Belleville Fire Department on Thursday.
Mayor Neil Ellis, along with current Councillors Jack Miller, Pat Culhane, Tom Lafferty, Garnet Thompson, Egerton Boyce and Bob Dolan as well as other local dignitaries and members of the media were taken through Fire Ops 101 at a temparary fire training facility created at the Belleville Fairgrounds.
The dignitaries were taken through several operational situations including a search and rescue, vehicle extrication, entanglement and other emergency situation simulations.
“We kind of knew where they were going to have some difficulty,” said Sean Allair, President of the Belleville Professional Firefighters Association and an organizer of the event. “I was extremely impressed with how they did. They put their heart and soul into it. Nobody gave up. Everybody did a great job.”
