In his keynote presentation to the Wildland Fire Conference in Kelowna Dr. David Martell, from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry, said the scientific work done in Canada around forest fires is an embarrassment. According to Dr. Martell the Canadian scientific community has contributed little to solving the community protection problem with most of the major research coming from other countries.
A recently released report found Yellowknife’s fire department is struggling to manage call volume, conduct training and prevent employee burnout. The report, produced by Calgary’s Behr Consulting, calls for a significant increase in staff.
At least three U.S. airlines are adding new fire suppression equipment to fleets in case a cellphone or laptop battery overheats, catches on fire and can’t be extinguished. The first airline to deploy fire containment bags on its entire fleet was Alaska Airlines.
The Saskatoon Fire Department issued a warning ticket to St. Paul’s Hospital after they found a patient’s trolley bed blocking a hallway during a recent inspection. The hospital was given two weeks to resolve the issue.
The Great Miramichi Fire was a massive forest fire that devastated forests and communities in northern New Brunswick in October 1825. The fire consumed almost 16,000 square kilometres and took the lives of at least 160 people before burning itself out.
Chief Michael J. Fahy, a 44 year old battalion chief with the New York City Fire Department who was killed by debris after a house exploded in the Bronx has been promoted to deputy chief. Investigators continue to dig through the rubble to determine the cause of the explosion.
Equine Guelph has launched a new online tool as a resource for horse owners. The Barn Fire Prevention tool is easy to use and provides horse owners with interactive assessments for their individual facilities.
A number of associations have warned the use of chemical flame retardants in furniture to improve fire safety can have severe negative impacts on public health.
Conservate M.P. and former firefighter John Brassard asked for the number of fires that occurred on First Nation reserves in the past decade. His answer included numbers only up to 2010, when Indigenous Affairs stopped collecting the data.
Pitt Meadows Fire Chief Don Jolley, vice-president of the Fire Chiefs Associaiton of BC, hopes a new regulation associated with BC’s Building Act will encourage local governments to make sprinklers mandatory in new homes.