The Portage la Prairie Fire Department's looking forward to the completion of a new addition to their firehall.

Chief Phil Carpenter outlines the schedule.

"If everything goes on schedule our addition won't be completed til -- they're telling us -- the end of March. It's getting there. It'll be nice to have that ready for the spring."

He notes it'll be a big boost to their services.

"Occupying our new space and addition, and using that training room, I think, is going to help us immensely; especially in the training component itself with the firefighters, and training the general public."

Carpenter explains the public sector of their training involves the use of fire extinguishers.

"We have a fire extinguisher training program for the general public. If you want to learn how to use a fire extinguisher, we can have you down here and use a fire extinguisher for live training."

He adds the public program is usually carried out through local companies running training programs for their employees.