Some 25 firefighters from the municipalities of Rigaud, Les Cèdres, Saint-Lazare, Hudson and Coteau-du-Lac took part in a theoretical and practical training session on clandestine laboratories organized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on May 23.

Clandestine laboratories present great dangers for operators, people living nearby and first responders, including first responders and firefighters.

The products used are highly volatile and explosive, and the premises may be equipped with death traps, commonly known as “booby-traps”, to protect the facilities, making it all the more important for firefighters to recognize the signs that could enable them to modulate their response.

This 2.30-hour training course is invaluable in that it teaches front-line responders to recognize the exterior and interior signs of an illicit laboratory, whether in a commercial or residential building, a garage, a farm, a warehouse, or even in the trunk of a car or truck trailer. It also looks for indicators of operator behavior, strategies, visitors, and other telltale signs such as odors, the presence or absence of occupants, and dissuasive signage.

This training was made possible thanks to the collaboration of District No. 6 Councillor Alain Lapointe. Mr. Lapointe worked for the RCMP's Clandestine Designer Drug Laboratory Dismantling Investigation Section from 2007 to 2013, in which he participated.

As head of equipment and specialized training, he also provided fire station training for firefighters in Montreal and Valleyfield, and designed the trailer plans for dismantling operations, which the RCMP still uses to this day.