One Kamloops councillor says a new training centre for Kamloops Fire Rescue is something council needed to push for.

The new centre will cost $350,000 and the funding was approved by council yesterday to add to this year’s budget.

Bill Sarai says right now local firefighters have to travel out of the city for their training.

“We need to keep that in-house,” he said. “We’ve been sending our firefighters and auxiliaries to Vernon, staying overnight, the meals, the hotels and the training.”

“Let’s bring the auxiliaries that we supply in our area, and bring them here and train them here and keep that money here.”

The new training centre will be located in Sahali on Concordia Way.

“That’s going to bring them up to par to fight all types of fires,” Sarai added.

“Right now their training centre is not on par with WCB rules. They are using propane to stimulate fires. If they want the highest degree of training, that’s not adequate.”