Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and Fire Protection Association Australia (FPA Australia) will collaborate in the development of a new state-of-the-art training centre for emergency services and the fire protection industry.
Due to open its doors in the second half of 2019, the NSW Training Centre of the Fire Protection Training Academy (Fire Academy) will be located at the FRNSW Emergency Services Academy in Orchard Hills in western Sydney.
Through the new facility, FRNSW and FPA Australia will deliver world-class training in all aspects of fire protection.
It will be one of the most advanced facilities dedicated to fire protection training in the world, with custom-built training rooms as well as shared facilities with the FRNSW Emergency Services Academy.
FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said the new fire protection training centre is part of FRNSW’s commitment to building community confidence in fire safety.
“We see the sharing of knowledge and skills between our two organisations as key to ensuring best practice fire safety for the community,” he said.
“Our past collaboration with FPA Australia has resulted in major safety initiatives, such as the mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in medium-rise residential buildings, and we look forward to building on this success at the new training centre.
“This new facility will enable our firefighters to be trained on the latest fire safety systems and then apply this in their operational work to more effectively extinguish building fires.”
FPA Australia CEO Scott Williams said FPA Australia is committed to keeping the community safe through effective fire protection.
“To do that the industry needs the best training available. This new facility will undoubtedly be one of the best in the world,” he said.
“We’re very pleased to be collaborating with FRNSW on this new training centre, and to be in a position to share knowledge and skills between the fire protection industry and the emergency services. The end result will be a safer community.”
The training centre features custom-built training and assessment rooms as well as shared access with FRNSW Emergency Services Academy facilities, giving the centre comprehensive, hands-on training capacity spanning from design and installation through to routine service and annual assessment.
It will also include access to a live fire training facility, providing students with real-world fire protection experience.
The Fire Academy’s NSW Training Centre will cover all sectors of the industry, including passive fire protection, detection and alarms, water-based and gaseous suppression, special hazards and more.