Fire Prevention

Plan ahead!  If fire breaks out in your home, you may have only a few minutes to get out safely once the smoke alarm sounds.  Everyone needs to know what to do and where to go if there is a fire.

Home Fire Escape Plan

Fire Escape Planning: https://youtu.be/2RumCPC4rSw

Produced by the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, this timeline shows the growth of a home fire with and without fire sprinklers. During the first 90 seconds after the fire starts, the smoke alarm activates and heat from the fire activates the sprinkler. Without sprinklers, the odds of escaping decrease quickly as flashover can occur in three to five minutes. The timeline also includes the report of fire, dispatch, response to fire, setup, and fighting the fire.

Be warm and safe this winter!

• Keep anything that can burn at least one meter away from heating equipment (furnace, boiler, wood/pellet stove, portable space heater)
• Have a one meter "kid-free zone" around open fires and space heaters
• Never use your oven to heat your home
• Have heating equipment installed by a qualified professional according to local codes and manufacturer's instructions
• Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional
• Turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed
• Ensure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room
• Ashes from woodstoves/fireplaces/pellet stoves should be cool before putting them in a metal container.  Keep the container a safe distance away from your home.

"Smoke alarms save lives".  You may have heard this a million times but do you know that your smoke alarms work as they are meant to?  Have you taken the time to ensure you and your family are protected?  Please take the time to do so now; here is what you need to know:

• Location: New homes will have the proper number of smoke alarms in the required locations.  If you live in an older home you may not have adequate smoke alarms:

                 - On every level of your home

                 - In the hall outside of the bedrooms

                 - The 2010 code requires smoke alarms in all the bedrooms

• Hard wired or battery-operated? All smoke alarms should be hard-wired; however, battery-operated smoke alarms will give the early warning if they are maintained.  The hard-wired smoke alarms should have a battery backup in case of power outage.
• Interconnection of Smoke Alarms - what does this mean?  When one smoke alarm is activated, it will activate all smoke alarms that are interconnected (battery-operated interconnected smoke alarms are available).  This is to ensure that if a smoke alarm detects smoke in a remote part of your home, you will hear the smoke alarm activation even when you are sleeping.  This will give you the needed time to escape.
• Smoke Alarm Maintenance: Test your smoke alarms once a month (by pushing the test button), change the battery once a year (or when it chirps), and change out your smoke alarms after its 10 year listed life span.

Smoke Alarms: https://youtu.be/gCMxwSrz5Go

Recall Notification -"Hayward Pool Heater Vent Kit recalled due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hazard"

CPSC # 19-136 Health Canada Recall # RA-70149

CSA Group Product Alert & Recall # (PAR-11-19) CSA Group Case#   (GPSC-2019-0129)

Hazard:  “The recalled vent kits installed on the gas pool heaters are not the proper size and can allow carbon monoxide to leak, posing a carbon monoxide poisoning hazard to consumers.”

Links to recalls:

Consumer Product Safety Commission US  

Healthy Canadians/Recalls and Safety Alerts Canada

 **ULC Public Notice**

USB POWER ADAPTORS

Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC) has issued a warning that there is a a false label of certification on the USB power adaptors.  They have not been tested for risk of fire, electrical shock, etc.

For your safety, the YKFD recommends that you use only ULC or CSA listed appliances and equipment.  If you have purchased this item, please stop using it.

FIRE PREVENTION WEEK 2020

8th ANNUAL FIRE SAFETY FAIR (To be announced in the fall)

Participants:      Individuals, Teams, Families, and Classes from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8. 

What:    

1. Individual Projects:  Fire Safety Drawings for 2020 Calendar.  12 posters (8 ½ x 11”) will be chosen from those submitted to be displayed on the 2020 YKFD Fire Prevention Calendar.  Your name, grade, and school will be posted under the picture.  Proceeds from the sales will be distributed among the participating schools, percentages calculated by number of student participants.
2. Team & Class Projects:    Poster boards, video, powerpoint, song or poem(video-taped), [or any other creative presentation method].  Project evaluation criteria attached.  (See Yellowknife.ca for previous winners).
3. Families:  Sit down with family, draw a floor plan of your home showing doors and windows, and decide on a family meeting place.  Practice your plan, then sign it, make a copy and send it to school with your child or email it to the Deputy Fire Chief of Life Safety & Prevention.  Ensure the family name and school is listed on the plan.

Deadline:       

Schools:  Please drop the projects off at the City of Yellowknife Fire Division no later than September 30 at 5 PM.  Please fill out an entry form for each participant (including teachers and parents) for the draw (see below). 

Benefit:  Fun way to learn about a fire safe lifestyle and show others what you have learned. The projects will be displayed on October 15 at the Firehall during the Fire Prevention Week Open House.

Every entry (including students’ and teachers’ names from every class project) will be placed in the draw which will take place at on October 9.  Awards and prizes will be presented at each school.

The top entries will be judged by a team of judges to determine the winners in each category.

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2019 Fire Safety Fair:

Individual:

JK – G3:

1^st Place:  Raelene Jenkins, G2 - NJM

2^nd Place:  Aria Bell, G2 - NJM

3^rd Place:  Sebastian Bernabe, Kindergarten - ESJS

Grade 4 – 6:

1^st Place:  Lexi Blandford, G4 - ESJS

2^nd Place:  Vanessa Song, G6 - WMS

3^rd Place:  Raiden Leonardis,  G4 - ESJS

Class:

JK – G3:

1^st Place:  Anna Hernandez’ G1-3 Class, K’alemi Dene School

2^nd Place:  Karen Faulkner’s JK (Montessori) Class, NJM School

Grade 4 – 6:

1^st Place:  Maureen Hans’ G4 Class – NJM School

Family:

1^st Place:  Bernabe Family:  Dario, Oyuka, Sebastian, Elizabeth & Samuel

Draw Prize Winners:

JK – G3:  Junior Fire Chief of the Day – George Madsen – G1 - RLN School

G4 – 8 :  Kirtsean Ramas – G 4 - ESJS      

Parent/Teacher:  Dario Bernabe

Thank you to all parents, teachers, and students who participated!

REPORTING A FIRE

You may make the difference in saving a life, preventing burn injuries, or limiting property damage by reporting a fire.  Here are some guidelines in reporting a fire situation. 

 Fire Alarm System – Building Monitored

In a building where the fire alarm system is being monitored, the monitoring company will contact the Fire Division to advise of a fire alarm activation.  This will promote rapid response to the building in question.  If you have information on the fire (or false alarm) please call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) and advise the dispatcher, who will in turn update the responding crew.  The more they know prior to arrival, the quicker the crews will be to deal with the incident.

 Fire Alarm System – Building Not Monitored (Local Alarm Only sign will be above or below the pull stations)

If the fire alarm has been activated in a building where the system is not monitored, please leave the building and call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) giving the dispatcher the name and address of the building and advise of alarm activation.  Pass on any information you may have - the cause of the activation, location of the fire in the building (if you know).

 It is important to note that individual suites in apartment buildings and condos are not connected to the fire alarm system.  If you smell or see smoke coming from someone’s suite or hear their smoke alarm sound, knock on their door to ensure they are OK.  If there is no incident (smoke alarm set off by cooking), no need to contact the emergency #.  If they don’t respond, activate the pull station, go to your meeting place outside, and call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) and advise the building name, address, and suite # that the smoke is coming from.

No Fire Alarm System

If you are in a building with no fire alarm system (small office buildings, homes, etc.) and you see smoke or fire, get everyone out of the building and call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) giving the dispatcher the name and address of the building.  Pass on any information you may have regarding the location of the fire within the building and the cause.   (If it is a  very small fire, and you are trained in using a fire extinguisher, make sure everyone is out of the house before attempting to extinguish the fire – ensure you call the emergency # before attempting to extinguish.)

 Alarms Ringing

If you are walking by a building and you hear alarms ringing coming from the building, call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222), giving the name and address of the building.  The dispatcher may request that you wait for the responding crew to arrive.

 Fire on the Exterior of a Building

If you believe there to be a fire on the exterior of a building, check to see if the fire appears to be growing, and the colour of the smoke turns from light to dark grey and appears to be growing in volume.  If this is the case, call the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) giving the dispatcher the name and address of the building.

Note:  In -30°c to -40°c temperatures, building and vehicle exhaust turns into ice fog.  When this fog floats in front of various light features, it can give the appearance of fire and smoke.

 Wildland Fires

The Fire Division will respond to wildland fires within the City’s boundries, and will respond to structure fires outside of these boundries.  When calling the emergency # (9-1-1 or 873-2222) to report a wildland fire, please provide the exact location of the fire and as many details as possible (size of the fire, any exposures – i.e. property at risk); stay on site to show the fire crew the location. 

 You, as a resident of Yellowknife, are the eyes and ears of the Fire Division.   Everyone benefits with early detection, early arrival of the Fire Division, and early intervention.