Niagara College offers first responders specialized electric vehicle emergency training

Niagara College will be offering specialized training for first responders this fall, to meet a critical need for electric vehicle emergency preparedness.

This follows as fires involving electric vehicles have become a growing concern across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and fire officials say the advanced training is crucial.

While electric vehicles may be better for the planet, they carry certain risks in the event of a crash.

Fire departments are still learning how to approach an emergency situation with an electric vehicle, because they burn differently than a traditional vehicle.

“We have to take into consideration, obviously, the surrounding area where the vehicle is, in relation to other buildings, other vehicles, is it on the highway, is it in somebody’s garage,” said Ken Henry, the Deputy Fire Chief at the City of Niagara Falls.

In Hamilton, a Tesla fire closed a stretch of Highway 403 back in May, while firefighters worked for more than four hours to extinguish the flames.

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In response to the need to equip emergency responders with skills to manage EV-related situations, Niagara College is expanding its safety training program.

“What really inspired this training, right off the bat, was with one of the local municipalities,” said Wayne Toth, a coordinator at Niagara College. “Here, the fire department had an accident scene that they went to with a hybrid vehicle. There was people trapped in the vehicle, and they were a little concerned on how to approach that vehicle, because of the high voltage.”

With a $450,000 commitment from the RBC Foundation, the program aims to provide hands-on training to paramedics, firefighters, and police, as well as students.

Henry said the specialized training is a necessity, adding “it’s a very complex type of fire that we’re dealing with, and we’re still learning today.”

Niagara College said it is expecting upwards of 800 participants in the first year alone, and the course comes at no cost.

“We started with fire departments, but now we see there is a huge interest on paramedics, and also on police, because they’re going to accident scenes also,” said Toth.

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