Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Safety is the number one value at Nicor Gas and the company works closely with fire departments across the company’s service territory in northern Illinois to ensure that firefighters are ready to respond to emergencies in the field.
To support this partnership and provide continued support that enables training and development of firefighters across the state, Nicor Gas recently provided $20,000 to the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) for their programs, and a $10,000 grant to Illinois Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) Foundation to fund development opportunities and training programs for firefighters.
Nicor Gas focuses on building and maintaining relationships with the Illinois fire service in several ways:
• Each year, community affairs representatives go to dozens of fire departments to talk about how Nicor Gas maintains a safe system and how we can best coordinate our response to natural gas emergencies.
• Nicor Gas’ Technical Training and Community Affairs departments host an annual hands-on training at the company’s Troy Grove Storage Field where 100 firefighters practice how to properly extinguish natural gas fires.
• This year, after a year working with the IFSI, Nicor Gas launched a new online Natural Gas Safety training module housed on the IFSI training platform. Firefighters from across the state have access to this 45-minute online, self-paced training module.
• Nicor Gas engages with fire departments each year to conduct mock exercises where both Nicor Gas and fire departments test their emergency response processes and protocols.
• Each year in the fall, Nicor Gas employees attend about 50 fire department open houses across northern Illinois reaching an estimated 35,000 residents to educate them about natural gas safety.
