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Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Office of the Fire Marshal |
Ministère de la Sécurité
communautaire et des Services correctionnels |
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Place Nouveau Building 7th Floor 5775 Yonge Street North York ON M2M 4J1 Telephone 416-325-3100 Facsimile: 416-325-3162 |
Édifice Place Nouveau |
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For Immediate Release
Recent fire in Barrie prompts OFM to issue fire safety warning
TORONTO - July 12, 2007 –
Ontarians should plug portable air conditioners directly into electrical
outlets or, if that is not possible, use heavy-duty appliance extension cords
warns Deputy Fire Marshal Doug Crawford. This fire safety warning comes
after the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) confirmed a near million-dollar fire
in Barrie began with the improper use of an extension cord.
When OFM investigators arrived at the Dunlop Street West building, which
contained nine apartments and three retail outlets, they noted a refrigerator
and a portable air conditioner plugged into a 16-gauge extension cord. OFM
investigators examined the electrical wire within the melted cord and noted
obvious arcing damage.
“If you can, plug portable air conditioners directly into an electrical outlet.
If that is not possible, use a ‘listed’ 14 gauge, three-wire grounding type
appliance extension cord,” said Crawford. “The type of cord at the fire scene
was a light-duty extension cord. These cannot handle the load of air
conditioners and other heavy appliances. For example, last summer, a young
father and his three-week-old child tragically died in an apartment fire where
an extension cord was being used improperly with a portable air conditioner.
Fortunately in this latest fire, no one was injured and the fire alarm system
was functional.”
As the warm weather continues and people turn to their air conditioners for
relief, these fires should serve as reminders, for landlords and tenants in
particular, of how important it is to ensure that air conditioners are operating
safely and that homes and multi-unit dwellings be equipped with working smoke
alarms on every storey and outside sleeping areas.
The fast-moving fire began on Sunday and left a number of Barrie businesses out
of operation and several people homeless. The Office of the Fire Marshal, Barrie
Fire & Emergency Service and the Barrie Police Service conducted the
investigation.
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For more information contact:
Carol Gravelle, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3138
Bev Gilbert, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3178
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