The Country Fire Authority is proposing a $2.5 million expansion at a facility where asbestos was found last year, making it a centre of excellence for fire investigation in Victoria.
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An inspection of the Huntly emergency services training facility found more than 100 people had trained in rubble containing asbestos.
The industrial waste, which was delivered with an asbestos-free certification, had been at the site since 2005.
CFA district 2 operations manager Steve Smith said the new facility would help prevent future recurrences of fires across Victoria.
“The information we get from our fire investigations is critical in preventing fires,” Mr Smith said.
Fire investigation trainees from across the state will use the Huntly facility, according to Mr Smith.
A fire investigation building, containing four ‘burn-cells’ and a car/caravan/boat investigation area, is the crux of the redevelopment, according to planning documents tendered to the City of Greater Bendigo.
The CFA proposes to use the fire investigations rooms 15 times a year, with four rooms burnt on each occasion, when the facility is operational.
Additionally, the car/caravan/boat area will be used nine-times annually and three burns are planned on each of those days.
Rooms will be set up to to resemble typical home/office scenarios and, once they are set alight and distinguished, trainee investigators will be brought in to determine the cause of the fire.
The rooms are expected to train up to 15 people, with an extra eight persons, including supervisors trainers and support staff, required to run the facility.
A detailed emissions report is attached to the application, with the enclosed facility designed to support an air emissions management system which contains and treats toxic smoke before it’s discharged into the atmosphere.
A CFA spokesperson said the site, which was cleared of asbestos by expert hygienists last year, has been certified asbestos free and remains safe and open for training.
The state government allocated $20 million in its 2016/17 budget to modernise the CFA’s six regional training grounds.
The funding sought to “resolve” the training gap caused by the closure of Fiskville after that site was found to be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals.
