CPKC donates training grant to the fire department | News, sports, jobs

Ben Pifher/MDN Left to right: Minot Mayor Tom Ross; Austin Burns, Minot Fire Department battalion chief; CPKC Railway operations manager Ross McMahon and Minot Fire Department Chief Kelli Kronschnabel are at the department’s training facility Thursday.

A custom-built tank car valve simulator was fabricated by Jeff Forseth, a welder contracted by CPKC Railway, paid for by CPKC and then donated to the Minot Fire Department. It was installed Thursday at the department’s training area just off the West Bypass of U.S. Highway 83 and will help the fire department train its personnel in emergency procedures for pressurized train cars.

The assembly consists of real valves that can be replaced as needed “Charge” According to Battalion Chief Austin Burns, firefighters are training for this. He said the two valve simulators provided to the department involved anhydrous ammonia and propane, very hazardous chemicals that are commonly transported in the area.

“Everything you see hanging underneath is actually what’s inside a tank.” said Ross McMahon, operations superintendent at CPKC, describing the different types of emergencies the simulator can train for, such as plugging leaks in an emergency situation.

“We can’t train on rail tank cars, so this is the best we can do,” Burns said.

Burns said the department will likely incorporate the new assembly into its next hazardous materials training course in the next few weeks.