New Smoke Alarm Requirements Under the Ontario Fire Code

On March 1, 2006, an amendment under the Ontario Fire Code came into effect. The regulation added the requirement for all single family, semi-detached, and town homes to have working smoke alarms on every storey, whether owner-occupied or rented. In addition to the existing requirement for smoke alarms outside all sleeping areas, the increased number of smoke alarms in the home could result in earlier warning of fire that could prove to provide the life-saving, extra seconds needed to escape the fire, and earlier arrival of the fire department on the scene.

The OFM launched a province-wide media campaign called Working Smoke Alarms: It’s the Law! in December 2005 to heighten awareness of working smoke alarms, the new smoke alarm requirements, and enforcement of the regulation. The OFM also provided fire departments with a variety of information and resources they could use to advise members of their communities about their new responsibilities under the law.

Non-compliance with the smoke alarm requirements can result in a ticket for $235, a fine of up to $50,000, or up to one year in jail.

Stovetop Fire Survey

The leading cause of residential fires is careless cooking, and most of these fires are initiated on the stovetop. High losses (deaths, injuries, and property damage) resulting from these fires are of serious concern.

The Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council established a Stovetop Fires Working Group to investigate approaches to the reduction of stovetop fires, including the development of stovetop technology that is more effective at preventing and managing cooking-related fires. The data required to fully analyze the problem and develop more effective prevention strategies did not exist.

The Office of the Fire Marshal initiated a one-year survey designed to collect the details needed to support the Council’s work. On June 24, 2005, the Fire Marshal issued a Communiqué asking Ontario fire departments to distribute the survey to fire suppression staff. Crews responding to stovetop fires would collect data on scene and may conduct interviews with persons involved in the fire or witnesses to the incident.

The Stovetop Fire Survey began August 1, 2005 and will conclude July 31, 2006.
 

Legislative Amendment Grants Firefighters in Personally Owned Vehicles Access to Closed Roads

The OFM struck the Closed Road Working Group in January 2005 to address certain matters associated with volunteer firefighter use of personally owned vehicles for emergency response on closed roads that could have a potentially serious impact on service delivery and firefighter safety. The working group developed a strategy that could be effective so long as the Highway Traffic Act, 1990, was amended to permit firefighters the access they required.

Through the efforts of the working group and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the Highway Traffic Act was amended to allow firefighters to respond on closed roads in personally owned vehicles in the performance of their duties effective November 21, 2005. Before this change, firefighters and police faced a tough decision on whether to obey the Highway Traffic Act or break the law in favour of protecting the public.
 

Report on the ontario fire service grant

The Province of Ontario supported municipal fire departments by providing one-time funding to help strengthen municipal fire protection and prevention services. As grant administrator, the Office of the Fire Marshal dispensed $30 million to 385 municipal fire departments in March 2005 and surveyed them at the end of the year to determine how the municipalities allocated and spent the funds. All 385 fire departments completed the survey.

In April 2006, the OFM completed a report on the Ontario Fire Service Grant. Some of the survey findings indicated that 31% of the funds were allocated to the purchase of equipment, 10% was used to fund the training of firefighters, 3% was used for fire prevention and public education, and 36 % was reserved for future fire department expenditures.
 

ONTARIO FIRE SERVICES LONG SERVICE MEDALS AND AWARDS

The Ontario Fire Services Long Service Medal is an expression of appreciation and recognition of uniformed staff for 25 years of dedication and hard work within the Ontario fire service. At 30 years of service and every 5 years thereafter, a service bar may be requested and added to the medal’s ribbon. Spouses of medal recipients receive a companion brooch. Approximately 500 medals and 300 service bars are awarded each year.

The Fire Marshal of Ontario issues medals, bars, and brooches under the authority of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, based on established eligibility criteria. Fire chiefs submit application forms for medal candidates to the Awards Coordinator of the Office of the Fire Marshal. The Fire Marshal issues the medals at investiture ceremonies held throughout the province as warranted from April through November each year. The OFM held eight investiture ceremonies this year.

The Fire Marshal also recognizes administrative personnel of fire departments and the OFM who have completed 20 years of service. Each female recipient receives an engraved brooch and certificate, and each male recipient receives an engraved tie tack and certificate.