Dec 9, 2014
B.C. Hydro insists its spiffy new smart meters have not caused any fires even though the technology has been blamed for blazes in other jurisdictions. That includes Saskatchewan, where the government just decided to get rid of smart meters after a series of electrical fires there.
B.C. Hydro says it uses a different brand of meter from SaskPower, and no fires have been confirmed here. Luc De Beir begs to differ. He blames a smart meter for a February 2013 fire at his summer home near Prince George. The story got stranger from there.
http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Michael+Smyth+Hydro+playing+smoke+mirrors+over+smart+meter+fires/10141442/story.html
Dec 9, 2014
Formed by the Fire Prevention Officers Association, HEAT is a conglomerate of organizations, including local fire departments, Island Health, SPCA and various non-profit organizations. “From the point of view of fire departments, when you have so much property in a small area, we call that a fuel load. If a fire does occur, it’s very hard to put out because you have that much more fuel load in there,” said Megan Sabell, inspector with the Victoria Fire Department, adding that the fire will also burn much hotter and faster. “It’s really dangerous for a firefighter to try and enter a suite like that.”
Dec 9, 2014
Security expert Mark Macy was showing off his company’s remote building monitor system to a colleague over breakfast in Gatineau on Oct. 22 when news broke that a lone gunman had killed a soldier and attacked the Parliament Buildings. Though the portal is designed for property managers, it could also be used by police, fire and paramedic services to access critical information about a property, as long as they are designated by building managers as trusted third parties.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-firms-emergency-response-portal-could-help-first-responders
Dec 9, 2014
Firefighting won’t be enough to stop devastating fires; report calls for new emphasis on prevention. “During these events, suppression response cannot be relied upon to protect communities or natural resource values. The only protection provided will be the protection established before the fire, provided through wildland-urban interface fuel reduction and landscape fire management.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Report+warns+soaring+risk+mega+fires/10438378/story.html
Dec 9, 2014
Like an automated version of the manned fire lookouts used for decades to protect vulnerable forests from fire, the cameras are designed to alert officials that a fire has started, allowing them to send firefighters to the scene before it gets big. Had the camera system been in place in June 2007, the Angora Fire might have been stopped before it whipped into an inferno that destroyed more than 250 homes near South Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe’s fire chiefs have been briefed on the program and are impressed with what they learned, said Mike Brown, chief of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/dec/07/cameras-might-circle-lake-tahoe-help-warn-fires/
Dec 9, 2014
The owner of a rooming house in Etobicoke has been sentenced to three years in prison and will have to pay a fine in connection with fire that claimed one person’s life more than three years ago. The landlord was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and four counts of criminal mischief. He failed to follow proper fire code regulations at the home, according to a City of Toronto news release. He is also facing charges under the Ontario Fire Code.
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/landlord-given-3-year-sentence-after-fatal-fire-1.2128907
Dec 9, 2014
The last thing you may consider to be a fire hazard in your home is your smartphone. But if recent events are any indication, our trusty devices may have a hidden danger – their batteries. Hope Casserly is the latest Canadian to go public with a story about her smartphone’s battery exploding. The “battery exploded while I was asleep waking me up with a loud popping noise,” and the “Battery exploded and caught fire and burnt my mattress and bedding.” Most smartphones use lithium-ion batteries – the same batteries are found in laptops, cars and even commercial airplanes. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used by tech manufactures because they pack a good amount of power in a lightweight package.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1714748/why-lithium-ion-smartphone-batteries-keep-exploding/
Nov 26, 2014
A coroner’s inquest into the fire that killed 32 people at a Quebec senior’s home in January began Monday. Flames gutted the mostly wooden structure of the Residence du Havre in L’Isle-Verte, Quebec, about 230 km northeast of Quebec City, on January 24, 2014.
http://www.camrosecanadian.com/2014/11/17/coroners-inquest-begins-in-fatal-seniors-home-fire
Nov 26, 2014
A man who set his house on fire then ambushed the first sheriff’s deputy who responded, fatally shooting the deputy and wounding another before he was killed by a police officer who lives nearby, a law enforcement official said. The man’s name and address had been entered into a law enforcement computer system because of previous threats, but the dispatcher entered the address of the neighbor who reported the blaze, so the alert wasn’t activated.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-sets-house-fire-kills-florida-deputy-ambush-n254181
Nov 26, 2014
Health Canada is warning about the potential risks of “vaping” after an unidentified Quebec resident receiving oxygen therapy was injured by a fire sparked by an electronic cigarette. The federal department says similar incidents of fires started by e-cigarettes in the presence of an oxygen source have been reported in other countries.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/patients-on-oxygen-therapy-risk-fire-injury-from-e-cigarettes-1.2117498
