MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS-TURNBERRY
FIRE PREVENTION
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- Photo Submitted by Wingham Advance Times
http://www.firesafetycouncil.com/teachers/kids.htm
Knowfire.ca
For many students, attending College or University also involves a move to
a new City and the search for affordable housing off campus.
While affordability may be a key issue in determining where you will live,
another consideration that must be paramount in the minds of
both students and their families is fire safety.
Planning ahead for fire safety may be secondary to other issues such as
studying, parties and part-time work. Many young adults
don't believe that a fire will ever happen to them. Please take the time
and watch the fire safety videos on
knowfire.ca
and think about
fire safety in your home .... every day!
- taken from the City of Hamilton
Website
'No Time to Spare' - See
how fast a fire spreads in 3 MINUTES!
How much time do you have? ... If a fire starts in your home .. are you
prepared? ... Are your smoke alarms working? ...
Have you tested your smoke alarms? .... Do you have a home fire escape
plan? ... Your answers to these questions may be the
difference between life and death. Take the next three minutes and see how
quickly a fire spreads.
"No Time to Spare" is a fire
re-enactment in an actual home. Watch the clock, listen for smoke alarms
and think about the time it takes for you to escape from a
fire in your home. - taken from
the City of Hamilton Website
Smoke Alarms, how to save $235.00?
Morris Turnberry residences must have at least one working smoke alarm
outside each sleeping area. That is the law.
The Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services (Office
of the Fire Marshal) have amended the Ontario Fire Code
(O.Reg 388/97) effective November 21, 1997 to include:
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"Smoke Alarms in Homes" |
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The fine for non-compliance under the Provincial Offences Act is as follows:
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Fire Code Reference |
Short Form Wording |
Set Fine |
| Article 2.13.2.3. | Failure to install smoke alarm as required | $200.00 |
| Article 6.3.3.2. | Fail to maintain smoke alarm in operating condition | $200.00 |
| Article 6.3.3.3. | Fail to provide smoke alarm maintenance instructions to occupant | $200.00 |
| Article 6.3.3.4. | Intentionally disable smoke alarm to make it inoperable | $200.00 |
| Article 6.3.3.5. | Replace smoke alarm with reduced level of detection | $200.00 |
| A $35.00 Victim Fine Surcharge applies to the above. |
NOTE: The
Fire Protection and Prevention Act allows for greater fines for
contravening the Ontario Fire Code. In the case of
an offence for contravention of the Fire Code, a fine of not more than
$25,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than one
year or both can be imposed.
85 % of all fire deaths and injuries occur in homes where there are no
working smoke alarms. Remember, only a working smoke
alarm can save your life! Most fatal fires occur at night when people are
asleep. Often, victims never wake up. A working smoke
alarm will alert you, giving you precious time to escape.
Every year, we target areas in the city and go door to door to do smoke
alarm checks. If there is no alarm in the house, we install one.
If an existing alarm's battery is dead, we replace the battery.
What is the best alarm to buy?
reduce nuisance alarms is recommended.
Where to install Smoke Alarms.
ceiling, according to your users manual. Try to avoid areas such as bathrooms, heating appliances, windows or close to ceiling fans.
Why does my smoke alarm beep?
smoke alarms at least once a year. Use special dates like birthdays or Christmas or when you change your clock.
Smoke alarm care.
from a smoldering string. Dust can clog a smoke alarm, so every six months, carefully vacuum inside the power unit according to
manufacturer's instructions.
Smoke Alarms do not last forever
.Replace smoke alarms that are over ten years old. Replace smoke alarms that fail the above tests or that malfunction
in any way.
SMOKE ALARMS:
Questions and Answers
- What is a smoke alarm?
A smoke alarm is a battery operated or electrically connected device that
senses the presence of visible or
invisible particles produced by combustion and that is designed to sound an
alarm within the room or suite within
which it is located.
The largest percentage of fire deaths in the home occurs at night while
people are asleep. Therefore, a working smoke
alarm can provide an early warning that can make the difference between life
and death. According to studies published
by the National Fire Protection Association, having a smoke alarm cuts your
risk of dying in a fire by nearly half. However,
a smoke alarm should be part of an overall home fire safety strategy that
also includes preventing fires by adopting fire safe
behaviour, and developing and practicing a home fire escape plan. In a fire,
escape time may be very limited. Therefore,
escape plans are a critical aspect of a home fire safety strategy. For
additional information on the effectiveness of smoke
alarms, refer to the Smoke Alarm Fact sheet.
Over a recent three year period, an analysis was undertaken of people
that died in homes where smoke alarms were present
Ionization
but did not work. 85% of those victims did not have a functioning smoke
alarm because of a dead or missing battery/power source.
There are two types of household smoke alarms in common use. These are
known as ionization or photoelectric type smoke alarms.
This type of alarm uses a small amount of radioactive material to ionize
air in the sensing chamber. As a result, the air chamber
becomes conductive permitting current to flow between two charged
electrodes. When smoke particles enter the chamber, the
conductivity of the chamber air decreases. When this reduction in
conductivity is reduced to a predetermined level, the alarm is set
off. Most smoke alarms in use are of this type.
A photoelectric type smoke alarm consists of a light emitting diode and a
light sensitive sensor in the sensing chamber.
The presence of suspended smoke particles in the chamber scatters the light
beam. This scattered light is detected and sets off the alarm.
There is no simple answer to this question. The two types operate on
different principles and therefore may respond differently
to various conditions. Some advantages to each type are set out below:
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Fastest type to respond to flaming fires |
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Lowest cost and most commonly sold |
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Some models have a hush or temporary silence feature that allows silencing without removing the battery |
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Some models are available with a long life battery |
Photoelectric
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Fastest type to respond to slow smoldering fires and white or gray smoke |
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Less prone to nuisance alarms from cooking |
Notwithstanding these differences, to achieve ULC listing, both alarms
must be tested to the same standard and meet the
same requirements. Photoelectric smoke alarms may respond slightly faster to
smoldering fires, while ionization alarms respond
slightly faster to flaming fires. Since you can't predict the type of fire
that will occur, it is difficult to recommend which is best.
Both alarms will detect all types of fires that commonly occur in the home.
Installing both types of smoke alarms in your home
can enhance fire safety.
It is the consumer's responsibility to assess the circumstances of their household and to select the most appropriate alarm
However, an important consideration in the purchase of a smoke alarm is conformance to a recognized standard. In Ontario,
CAN/ULC-S531 is the recognized standard for both the ionization and photoelectric types of alarms. Both ionization and photoelectric
type products conforming to this standard are available on the market. A homeowner will know that a smoke alarm meets the
requirements of this standard by the ULC or cUL label on the device.
The Ontario Fire Code requires that smoke alarms be maintained in
operating condition at all times. Smoke alarms
should be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
Occasional light vacuuming will keep the air vents
clean. On battery powered units, check to see that the battery is in place,
connected, not corroded and functioning. Although
the test frequency is not prescribed in the Ontario Fire Code, smoke alarms
should be tested on a regular basis. Some
manufacturers and authorities recommend that smoke alarms be tested at least
once a month. Additional information on smoke
alarm maintenance, particularly in rental accommodation, is available in the
OFM guideline "Maintenance of Smoke Alarms."
The Ontario Fire Code requires a smoke alarm that meets CAN/ULC-S531
between each sleeping area and the remainder of the
building. The Office of the Fire Marshal recommends that homeowners install
one smoke alarm on every level of their home and
outside all sleeping areas. For maximum protection, we suggest installing a
smoke alarm in every room.
Smoke alarms should be installed according to the manufacturer's
instructions.
These are some features you can expect to find:
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a "missing battery" indicator, |
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an optional alarm hush or silence feature, |
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the use of a power "on" indicator light to show that ac power is being supplied to 120 volt wired in smoke alarms. |
batteries. What is being done about this problem?
The OFM and the Ontario fire service have been stressing the importance of smoke alarm maintenance through various public
education initiatives. This effort is now backed by requirements in the Ontario Fire Code which mandate smoke alarm maintenance.
The Standard for Smoke Alarms has also been amended and now requires smoke alarms to have a visual indicator to flag a
missing battery, for example, the inability to close the smoke alarm cover when a battery is removed. Nuisance alarms are a
frequent reason for removing batteries. As a result, the use of smoke alarms with a hush or silence feature is being promoted in
public safety programs. In addition, smoke alarms with long life batteries are now available on the market.
Long life smoke alarms have been designed to use lithium batteries where
the battery life is predicted to last 10 years with the
normal low battery drain of ionization type smoke alarms. The smoke alarms
are still designed to provide a low battery audible
signal as the battery charge is reduced to a level that may make the smoke
alarm inoperable. It should be noted that although
these batteries are designed to last 10 years, ongoing testing and
maintenance is required as per manufacturers' instructions.
No. Only battery types recommended by the manufacturer should be used in
a smoke alarm. Incorrect batteries may not provide
the operating characteristics expected of the smoke alarm.
As a rule of thumb, the Office of the Fire Marshal recommends replacing
smoke alarms every 10 years or when it has exceeded
the manufacturer's recommended life cycle. Additional information for
recommended smoke alarm replacement is available in the
OFM guideline "Maintenance of Smoke Alarms."
We have every reason to believe that alarms listed by a certification
agency accredited by the Standards Council of Canada will
function as intended.
To ensure that an alarm has been manufactured and tested to an acceptable
standard, there should be a marking by the Underwriters
Laboratories of Canada (ULC), or Underwriters Laboratories Incorporated (cUL).