The new facility is part of a million dollar initiative by the NSW government and is one of seven across the state.

Located in the Central West the prop will allow for emergency services crews across the region to train and learn skills in hazardous materials response, structure fires, confined space training, search and rescue and vehicle rescues.

Ms Berejiklian said she was thrilled that Portland was one of the locations where emergency services personnel could learn from.

“I’m so excited that this facility is here for our support and people don’t have to travel those extra distances to get that training,” she said.

She also said it allowed them to get the proper training they needed when faced in a confronting situation in real life.

During Ms Berejiklian’s visit the Portland Fire and Rescue crew carried out simulations with the training prop to show what kind of activities they would undertake.

“It was so real to life. When you see a simulation like that it puts into perspective how so many of our front line workers put their lives on the line day in and day out to save lives,” she said.

NSW Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant said the facility was a vital investment to have seven of these strategically located throughout the state.

“It gives as many fire fighters and other emergency services access to real life scenarios so they can continually enhance their skills.

“Many fire stations can come and access these state of the art training props and simulate multiple scenarios,” he said.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said the prop was to ensure emergency personnel got the best training to be able to do the work that they do.

“Whether it be car accidents, fires, they’ll have the training they need and best skills behind them,” he said.

This prop allowed the crew to throw different scenarios out there so they can train for different situations.

Portland Fire and Rescue’s Bob Murray said the team was very excited about having the training facility and it meant a lot them.

“It means we can have high quality training delivered locally but it’s also about bread and butter training, the grass roots, the type of fires and incidents our crews will go to on a day to day basis,” he said.

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