MANITOULIN—With harrowing statistics on the number of people who died in fire fatalities last year in Ontario, and the increasing trend this year, the importance of having a working smoke alarm in every residence and for people to be extra careful when cooking in their homes is even more significant.
“I know there was a significant number of fire fatalities in the province last year, and these numbers appear to have increased again this year,” stated Dwayne Elliott, Assiginack fire chief and co-fire coordinator on Manitoulin Island.
Ontario Fire Marshal Jon Pegg had encouraged all Ontarians to participate in “Test Your Smoke Alarm Day” on September 28 to ensure every resident has working smoke alarms after a troubling 133 fire fatalities last year, the largest number of fire-related deaths in 20 years. And as of August 21, this trend appeared to have continued as there had already been 66 fire fatalities in Ontario this year.
“I know there have been a significant number of fire fatalities in the province, although I don’t know exactly what the cause of it is,” said Mr. Elliott. “I don’t know if it is just prevention and education people need to be provided or more.”“Fortunately, on the Island we don’t see numbers as high as other parts of the province, but we don’t have a large population either,” said Mr. Elliott.
Since COVID-19 more people are staying at home and with this week, October 8-14, being Fire Prevention Week, Manitoulin fire departments are focussing their message on cooking safety. Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. As the fire departments message advertisement on page 17 explains, cooking brings family and friends together, provides an outlet for creativity and can be relaxing. But cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries.
“In some cases, people will come home, put something on the stove for dinner, and then sit down for a minute and fall asleep,” said Mr. Elliott. “Or people get distracted by the phone, television or someone at the door.”
“There needs to be more onus and responsibility on the homeowner to have working smoke alarms and CO2 alarms in the home. And people need to have fire extinguishers close by,” stated Mr. Elliott.
For a list of recommendations and more information on fire safety, look for the Manitoulin fire departments message/advertisement on page 17 of this week’s paper.
