Recognition of heart disease in B.C. firefighters restored
The Government of British Columbia has tabled legislation under the Workers Compensation Act to restore heart disease in firefighters as a presumptive disease recognized by WorkSafeBC. Under the proposed amendment, if a firefighter suffers from heart disease or a...
Fire crews to attend automatic fire alarms no longer
In a bid to lower how many calls there are to false alarms fire crews will no longer be sent to automatic fire alarms. During 2012/13, Chesire crews responded to more than 2,500 alarms but only 29 of these calls involved a fire, which meant 98.7 per cent could...
ISO fire prevention ratings explained
To establish a municipality's Public Protection Classification, the ISO uses a comprehensive 105.5 point scoring system called the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule that analyzes data across three categories of a community's fire-fighting capabilities: Emergency...
Recalled smoke alarm causes fire
The investigation into a house fire found the smoke detectors were originally installed in 2005 and that they had been recalled by General Electric in 2010 because a capacitor could overheat - which this unit did.
Manitoba creates task force to look into sprinkler retrofits
The Manitoba government said it is looking at sprinkler retrofits in personal care homes if further improvements need to be made in hospitals, personal care homes and other facilities. The province also said it is dedicating up to $7 million annually for...
Fire codes forcing elderly out of their homes
Fire codes in New Hampshire require residents of care facilities to be able to evacuate the building within thirteen minutes. The president of the New Hampshire Association of Residential Care Homes said the problem of elderly residents being forced out of assisted...
WorksafeBC overhaul announced in light of botched fire investigation
Worksafe BC paid insufficient attention to important legal precedents that underpin the legitimate gathering of evidence for prosecution purposes, even though the Criminal Justice Branch had previously shared its concerns on the collection of evidence.
Massachusetts’ fire-safe cigarette law appears to decrease likelihood of residential fires
A six-year-old Massachusetts law requiring that only "fire-safe" cigarettes (FSCs) be sold in the state appears to decrease the likelihood of unintentional residential fires caused by cigarettes by 28%, according to a new study by Harvard School of Public Health...
Seven keys to fire safety with photovoltaic installations
To gain a greater understanding of PV technology UL sceintists constructed a functioning PV array to serve as a test fixture. UL discovered seven new findings regarding roof-mounted photovoltaic systems that impact firefighter safety. ...
Pioneering’s Safe-T-element cooking fire prevention technology is now ready for the general public
Temperature limiting control technology has been installed on over 100,000 stovetops without a single stovetop cooking fire reported. There is now an easy to install consumer version that can be installed simply by taking the existing element out and sliding the new...
Ottawa Fire sets standard for new breathing apparatus
The City of Ottawa received $5-million spread between the 2013 and 2014 budgets to replace breathing apparatus for hundreds of their firefighters.
Highway to hazmat hell
A highway accident results in a spectacular and impressive series of explosions captured on video. http://contentdrivestraffic.com/highway-to-hazmat-hell
Evaluation of dermal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in firefighters
The Health Hazard Evaluation Program carried out a study at a fire service training facility to determine if airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other aromatic hydrocarbons generated during live fire training contaminate and pass through the skin...
Designing fire systems for flammable, combustible liquids
Specifying fire protection for the storage of flammable and combustible liquids in containers is critical. http://www.plantengineering.com/single-article/designing-fire-systems-for-flammable-combustible-liquids/83f1894f452a6c1a80676a2b60b6acbd.html
Politicians fiddle with laws as buildings burn
The way Quebec politicians and others are carrying on, you’d think that the automatic sprinkler system was an untried, still slightly sketchy, cutting-edge technology and not one proven over and over again in the 142 years since they were invented.
Fire safety on First Nations reserves a national problem
People living on a First Nations reserve in Canada are 10 times more likely to die in a house fire than people in the rest of Canada, according to a 2010 federal study on fire safety on reserves, a sombre figure highlighted by the deaths of two young boys in a...
Fire safety review overdue
A CBC investigation discovered more than half of 125 licensed personal care homes in Manitoba do not have full sprinkler systems; 37 had no sprinklers, while 55 had partial protection....
iPhone catches fire in student’s pants
A thirteen-year-old girl sat down in a classroom and heard a pop, and smoke began billowing from the back of her pants. http://www.wmtw.com/news/iphone-catches-fire-in-students-pants/24224410#mid=16319809
Recent Articles
Yellowknife to Fort McMurray: lessons from the frontlines of Canada’s worst wildfires.
Volunteer firefighters see doubling in tax credit.
Oro-Medonte fire chief smokes out several ways to boost revenue.
Ahead of likely ‘ferocious’ wildfire season, fire chiefs lament drop in volunteers.
Vancouver firefighters get $2.8M from city to procure gear free of cancer-causing chemicals.
