Don’t be surprised if you receive a visit from your friendly neighbourhood firefighter.
Earlier this month, the Cambridge Fire Department took to the streets for its Residential Fire Safety Program, with the objective of educating homeowners about fire safety.
“Every fire dept. in the province, no matter how big or small, must have a smoke alarm program in place,” said John Percy, captain fire prevention officer with the Cambridge Fire Department.
“The goal for this program is to educate homeowners and occupants about home fire safety. This includes information about smoke alarms to make sure that they are working, and that everyone is aware of their importance.”
The program is delivered by on-duty firefighters from all six fire stations in Cambridge.
“Firefighters are assigned 2,400 homes to visit. The goal is to visit homes and speak with homeowners and occupants about fire safety,” Percy said.
“It a great time to be doing this now, as we begin to get ready for the holidays, and with colder weather on the way.”
This year, Ontario is already on track to exceed the number of fire deaths recorded last year.
“As of Thanksgiving in Ontario, there have already been 102 fire deaths. Last year, we had 124, and the year before that, it was at 115,” Percy said.
“We correlate this with COVID-19. Initially with lockdowns, people were staying home. They were cooking more at home and isolating, so there were more risks. We’ve definitely seen an increase.”
Unattended cooking is the leading cause of house fires, and the risk goes up, with colder weather on the way.
Percy says the winter months usually see the highest number of house fires due to increased use of heating appliances.
“In the winter season, provincially, there are more home fire deaths because more people are in their homes. Regardless of COVID-19, they are using more heating appliances, entertaining more, and cooking more,” Percy said.
The Residential Fire Safety Program helps to remind people of the leading causes of fire.
“Since one of the leading causes is unattended pots on the stove and cooking in the kitchen, we remind people about heating appliances, to have them inspected and cleaned by professional technicians, and that also includes wood stoves,” Percy said.
“We want to educate and get people thinking about home fire safety when they see us pull up in uniform and in our firetrucks to their homes. We want to motivate them to say, hey, the firefighters came by, let’s think about the importance of home fire safety.”
Firefighters offer homeowners a number of safety tips inside their homes.
“The most obvious being working smoke alarms on every level of their home, making sure they are tested, making sure the batteries are changed once a year, and that the alarms haven’t expired,” Percy said.
To learn more about smoke alarm fire safety, visit here.
“Also, checking that working carbon monoxide alarms are inside the home and that’s a big one especially in the winter months. In Ontario, we do see more carbon monoxide poisonings because of all of the heating appliances being used,” Percy said.
CO is colourless and odourless, which is why carbon monoxide poisoning if often referred to as the 'silent killer'. At high levels, CO gas can cause loss of consciousness or death.
To learn more about carbon monoxide prevention, visit here.
The Cambridge Fore Department also shares information about fire drills while making their rounds in local neighbourhoods.
“Children are really good with this because of doing regular fire drills at school. We also want to promote this at the homes we visit. It’s good to have a fire escape plan to practice and have a fire drill at home with your loved ones,” Percy said.
A fire can double in size each minute. This is why, Percy says, having a home fire escape plan is one of the most important things people can do as a family so that everyone knows what to do in case of a fire.
For more information about making an escape plan, visit here.
“The goal of this program with the Cambridge Fire Dept. is to provide education. We hope that it’s enough motivation for people to check their smoke alarms, test them, and make sure they do home fire drills,” Percy said.
“This is a prevention piece. It’s like COVID-19, with wearing a mask, washing your hands, and social distancing. These measures should help reduce the spread and of getting sick.”
For the Cambridge Fire Dept, hopefully a home visit from a local firefighter will increase awareness and help prevent future fires.
“That’s why we do what we do. The way we look at it, if we give you the education, it will help change your mindset, and that if there were a fire, everyone is safe,” Percy said.
“The ultimate goal is that there are no injuries or deaths and a reduction in home fires in the city of Cambridge.”
For more information, visit here.
