FireWatch

FireWatch is a service that provides links to news stories from the fire community that have attracted our attention.

B.C.’s Fire Safety Act to be revamped

B.C.’s Fire Safety Act to be revamped

A law that mandates fire safety in B.C. is getting a much needed update. The new Fire Safety Act will modernize the regulatory framework for fire safety in the province. Click here to read more.

Time to redesign the big old red fire truck?

Time to redesign the big old red fire truck?

City streets are getting slimmer. Shouldn't emergency vehicles do the same? Anyone who lives in a city has watched large, boxy fire trucks and fire engines struggle to squeeze through traffic. It's no wonder firefighters call for wider roads. It's a safer design, they...

Fatal apartment fire sparks debate over inspection laws, sprinklers

Fatal apartment fire sparks debate over inspection laws, sprinklers

A fatal fire at a Toronto apartment building for low-income seniors has provoked renewed scrutiny of provincial laws regarding inspections and automatic sprinklers - the latter a safety measure that the city's deputy fire chief says, "certainly would have made a...

February in fire history – Parliament Hill fire

February in fire history – Parliament Hill fire

It's difficult to imagine the scale of the trauma, the wartime anxiety, the shock, the anger that would have engulfed the nation 100 years ago when the seat of the federal government went down in flames. Click here to read more.

Barn fires prompt fire officials to call for changes

Barn fires prompt fire officials to call for changes

Three barn fires in ten days have Ontario fire officials renewing a call for changes to the farm building code. The current code is over 20 years old and hasn't been updated since 1995. Click here to read more.

Cheap plastic film prevents batteries from catching fire

Cheap plastic film prevents batteries from catching fire

Laptops, airplanes, electric cars, and even the new rolling hoverboards have all faced troubles with lithium-ion batteries bursting into flames. But now, researchers report they've come up with a potential cheap and effective way to prevent batteries from overheating....

Lung cancer added to Ontario firefighter health coverage

Lung cancer added to Ontario firefighter health coverage

As of January 1, the onus is no longer on firefighters and fire investigators in Ontario to prove their lung cancer is work-related. It is the latest condition to be covered under what is called presumptive legislation, which was first passed for firefighters in...

January in fire history-Sacred Heart College fire

January in fire history-Sacred Heart College fire

January 18th marks the 78th anniversary of the Sacred Heart College fire. Forty-one boys and five priests lost their lives when fire destroyed Sacred Heart College at St. Hyacinthe, a small manufacturing city near Montreal. Click here to read more.

Skyscraper blaze in Persian Gulf raises questions about safety

Skyscraper blaze in Persian Gulf raises questions about safety

A blaze that engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on New Year's Eve - the emirate's third high-rise fire in three years - has raised fresh questions about the safety of materials used on the exteriors of tall buildings across the wealthy region. Click here to read more.

Firefighters sue siren maker over hearing loss

Firefighters sue siren maker over hearing loss

Over four thousand current and former U.S. firefighters are suing Federal Signal Corp., an Illinois-based company that makes sirens, claiming it didn't do enough to make the sirens safer for those on fire trucks who have to listen to them nearly every day. Click here...

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