In towns in Canada served by volunteer fire departments recruitment has become a huge issue. Because many volunteer departments follow the same training guidelines as paid fire departments the time commitment, for people who in many cases already hold down a full-time job, is significant and is proving to be a deterrent to volunteers.
FireSmart Canada, in partnership with The Cooperators, has developed the “FireSmart Home Development Guide”. The Guide contains specific measures homeowners can take to reduce the risk of wildfire damage, including choices of building materials and building design. The Guide is now available to all Canadians.
Carrier Corporation has recalled certain heat pumps because the capacitors in the control board may stop working, causing the unit to overheat, posing a fire hazard. Approximately 2,000 of the units were sold in Canada.
An inquest looking into the deaths of two Ontario firefighters during training for ice rescues has heard rescue operations in icy, swift water are rarely successful. Private safety training courses in the province are unregulated and the Ontario Fire College does not offer ice rescue training.
The Slave Lake wildfire, which destroyed roughly one-third of the Town of Slave Lake, Alberta, burned through the town from May 14 to May 16, 2011. The town hall, library and radio station were completely gutted and 732 residents were left homeless. Insurable damage was estimated at $750 million, making it the second costliest insured disaster in the country at the time.
The Tokyo Fire Department recently unveiled its new testing room, where extreme climate conditions can be artificially created. The testing room will be used to conduct research on countering heatstroke in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and to develop firefighting equipment.
A proposed fire prevention bylaw in Winnipeg would include mandatory fire safety inspection standards for food-trucks and illegal rooming houses, prohibit the use of sky lanterns and allow fees to be charged for new fire safety inspections. It would also allow fire safety inspectors to install smoke alarms in facilities where none exist and replace faulty alarms where landlords cannot be reached or will not install the units themselves.
Saint John’s industrial area is home to Canada’s largest oil refinery, a LNG terminal, natural gas pipelines and rail lines that carry a variety of industrial cargo. Fire Chief Kevin Clifford wants to use a new approach to emergency response plans that would have the fire department taking on a larger role.
A University of Alberta study that surveyed 355 firefighters involved in battling the Fort McMurray fire found one in five suffering respiratory problems and one in six experiencing mental health issues. Researchers hope to find out which factors caused long term health problems and how those factors can be mitigated in future fires.
Staff at Oakland’s Fire Prevention Bureau, whose job it is to annually inspect all commercial buildings and some residential properties in the city, are using an older database that is not user-friendly. Problems with the system may have contributed to lapses in inspections of dangerous buildings.