Thousands of Cochranites step into our local fire hall each year but because of restrictions brought on by COVID-19 the tours have come to a halt. 

But, you can now take an in depth virtual tour instead.

Fire Inspector Jeff Avery says the the tour gives you panoramic views of every room inside Cochrane Station 151. 

"It shows pictures of the building and you can go in each room of the fire hall and see what we do. You can go inside the fire trucks and it has some sirens going off and some calls that come in. You can look at some tools that we use and all kinds of stuff."

Avery says they wanted to stay on top of public safety and education. 

"We just wanted to keep the message going and keep kids interested and who knows, it might be the entire year that we don't allow people into the hall so this is definitely a really good thing that we're doing here."

The fire hall is a busy place with thousands of visitors each year. 

"We brought in a little over 5000 kids and adult groups into the fire hall last year. From day homes to Kindergartens and Grades 1,2 & 3 and seniors and high school kids. We put a lot of people through the fire hall in a year."

Avery says everything is labeled on the tour so it provides a lot of education for people going on the virtual tour. 

"Some kids are working a little bit on school work right now with their parents and need a break, so it's just a fun little thing to do. You can't come on a field trip but this is the second best thing right now."

To take a virtual tour of the Cochrane fire hall go here.