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HomeFire, Police and Emergency ServicesFire Prevention and Safety
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Fire Prevention and Safety

Fire Prevention Tips

Fire prevention is everyone’s responsibility. These simple tips can help keep you and your loved ones, safe.  

The Fire Prevention branch provides knowledge and education to help residents and businesses live and work safe from fire. Public education plays a vital role in preventing fires. Please find important fire prevention and safety information below. 

Download our Homeowner’s Fire Prevention Guide

Fire truck in bay

Smoke Alarms

Working smoke alarms save lives. Make sure everyone in the house knows what to do when a smoke alarm sounds by practicing your home escape plan.

Testing and Maintenance

  • Test smoke alarms monthly to make surethey work properly.
  • Replace batteries in battery-operated smoke alarms at least once a year.
  • Replace smoke alarms every 10 years from the manufacture date.

Installation

  • Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home.
  • Large homes may require additional alarms.
  • Hardwired smoke alarms should be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound.

Placement

  • Mount alarms on ceilings or high on walls.
  • Keep smoke alarms at least 10 feet (3 meters) away from kitchen stoves to reduce false alarms.
  • Use a photoelectric smoke alarm for kitchen areas to help prevent nuisance alarms.

Accessibility

  • For individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf, consider alarms with strobe lights and bed shakers. 

Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odourless gas that can be deadly. Proper CO alarm installation and maintenance is critical for safety.

Risks

  • CO poisoning can result from malfunctioning or improperly vented furnaces, fuel-burning heating or cooking equipment, portable generators, water heaters, or vehicles left running in garages.

Testing and Maintenance

  • Test CO alarms monthly to ensure they are functioning properly.
  • Replace CO alarms after 8 to 10 years, depending on the model and manufacturer.

Installation

  • Install CO alarms outside each separate sleeping area.

Cooking Fires

 Cooking is a leading cause of fires in the home. Prevent damaging fires and injuries with these tips. 

  • Stay in the kitchen when frying, boiling, grilling, or broiling food. Turn off the stove if you leave, even for a short time. 

  • If simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly. Stay in the home when food is cooking and use a timer. 

  • Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, packaging, towels, plastic or wooden utensils, away from your stovetop. 

  • If you have a small (grease) cooking fire and decide to fight it – slide a lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.NEVER use water on a grease fire. 

  • For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed. 

  • Do not use the stove or stovetop if sleepy or if you have consumed alcohol. 

Smoking Materials

 Smoking materials are a leading cause of fires. Don’t let that be the cause of a home fire.  

  • Never butt-out in your garden or potted plants. 

  • Use a deep, sturdy ashtray, placed away from anything flammable. 

  • Make sure your butts and ashes are fully extinguished before discarding them—dousing in water or sand is a great way to do that.  

  • Only smoke outside and especially never around oxygen. Do not smoke in bed or when tired.  

Winter Fire Safety

It’s important to think fire safety year-round, but winter also comes with season-specific issues to be aware of.

Wood stoves and fireplaces 

  • Have your chimney professionally cleaned and inspected each year. Burn seasoned wood; don’t burn paper, cardboard, or other random debris in your fireplace or wood stove. When removing ash, use a metal shovel and ash bucket kept far from anything flammable. 

Portable Space Heaters 

  • Space heaters should be placed on a level, hard and non-combustible surface (avoid carpets or rugs).  

  • Do not leave children or pets unattended around a space heater. 

  • Fuel-burning space heaters (kerosene or gas) should be inspected annually. Ensure you are using the proper grade of fuel source for your unit and that it is cleaned regularly. 

  • Make sure your space heater has an automatic shut-off feature that activates if it tips over. 

  • Keep heaters more than a metre away from anything that can burn.  

Heat tape 

  • Heat tape is a commonly used defense against the cold weather on water pipes under mobile homes, but it must be used properly and inspected regularly.  

  • Only use certified heat tape.Replace if it has cuts, cracks, charring, animal chew marks, bare wires or a loose or missing end. 

Frozen pipes 

  • Never use an open flame such as a blow torch to thaw pipes. This will create a fire hazard and risk carbon monoxide exposure. Warm the air around it or apply heat directly through certified electric heat tape or other means. If in doubt, contact a qualified plumber. 

Block heaters 

  • Use proper outdoor electrical cords; plug it in solidly and keep the connections clean and dry. 

Holiday Fire Safety

The holidays can raise the risk for fire. Think about fire safety when decorating.

Decorations 

  • Keep all decorations away from heat sources. Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.  

  • Replace worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Use clips, not nails, to hang lights. Turn off all light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed. Please note, some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.

Candles 

  • More than one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles. Consider using LED lights or other alternatives.  

  • Always blow out candles when you leave the room or go to bed.  

  • Keep children and pets away from lit candles. lock up matches and lighters. 

BBQ Safety

  • Keep your grill clean and only use BBQs outdoors. 

  • Place your BBQ at least three metres from your home or other structures and overhanging branches. 

  • Ensure your BBQ is fully cooled off before covering or storing away. 

Electrical Fire Safety

Electricity makes our lives easier, but please keep safety in mind.  

  • Only use one heat-producing appliance (coffee maker, space heater, etc.) plugged into an outlet at a time. 

  • Major appliances (refrigerators, washers, stoves, etc.) should be plugged directly in a wall receptacle outlet. Do not use extension cords or plug strips.  

  • Have a qualified electrician do all electrical work.

Call a qualified electrician or your landlord if you have: 

  • Frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers. 

  • A tingling feeling when you touch an electrical appliance. 

  • Discoloured or warm wall outlets. 

  • A burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance. 

  • Flickering or dimming lights. 

  • Sparks from an outlet. 

Lithium-ion Batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power many of our devices. They are generally safe to use, but they can catch fire or explode if damaged or used incorrectly. Fires caused by larger lithium-ion batteries can also be very difficult to extinguish.  

  • Do not use if damaged.  

  • Store in a dry area, at room temperature, away from anything that can get hot or catch fire. 

  • Use the correct charger and don’t leave devices plugged in all night. 

  • Regularly check for overheating while charging. 

  • Immediately stop using the battery if you notice: odour, change in colour, too much heat, change in shape, leaking or an odd noise.

Presentations and Fire Hall Tours

Regional Emergency Services offers the opportunity to schedule fire safety presentations, training and tours to a variety of groups. To book Fire Hall tours please fill out the Fire Hall Tour Request Form.

Book a Fire Hall Tour

To book presentations please email your requests to RES.Reception@rmwb.ca . For more information contact Pulse.

Fire truck in bay

Other Home Fire Safety Information

Fire pits
For more information on fire pits, please visit our Outdoor Fire Rules page.
Fire extinguishers 

Fire extinguishers can be used to put out a small fire or contain a fire until the fire department arrives. Fires can grow fast. Do not attempt to fight even a small fire until people have safely escaped and the fire department has been called. 

Operation

Use the acronym P.A.S.S. to remember the fire extinguishing sequence:

P - Pull the pin in the handle.
A - Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.
S - Squeeze the lever slowly.
S - Sweep from side to side until the fire is out or until the cylinder is empty.

Fire Extinguisher Types

  • Class A - For fires involving wood, cloth, paper, rubber, and many plastics.
  • Class B - For fires involving flammable liquids, combustible liquids, petroleum greases, tars, oils or oil-based substances
  • Class C - For fires that involve energized electrical equipment.
  • Class D - For fires involving combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, lithium, and potassium.
  • Class K - For  fires involving cooking appliances that use vegetable or animal oils and fats.

Safety Tips

  • For the home, choose a multipurpose fire extinguisher (ABC) that can be used on all types of home fires. One that is large enough to put out a small fire, but not too heavy to handle.
  • Install fire extinguishers close to exits and as required by the manufacture and NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers.
  • Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 10 for all inspection, maintenance, recharging and hydrostatic testing requirements.
  • For commercial business, apartments and hotels, records of all testing and maintenance must be kept on the premises for two years.
  • Only ULC-listed fire extinguishers are permitted for use in Canada.
Escape planning 

Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as one or two minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. A closed-door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home. Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.

Safety Tips

  • Draw a map of your home showing all doors and windows. Discuss the plan with everyone in your home;
  • Know at least two ways out of each room, if possible. Make sure all doors and windows leaking outside opening freely.
  • Have an outside meeting place (like a tree, light pole or mailbox) a safe distance from the home where everyone should meet.
  • Practice your home fire drill at night and during the day with everyone in your home, twice a year.
  • Practice using different ways out.
  • Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.
  • Close doors behind you as you leave.

If the Alarm Sounds

  • If the smoke alarm sounds, GET OUT AND STAY OUT. Never go back inside for people or pets.
  • If you have to escape though smoke, GET LOW AND GO
  • Call 911 from outside your home

Create a Plan

  • Visit each room. Find two ways out.
  • All windows and doors should open easily. You should be able to use them to get outside.
  • Make sure your home has smoke alarms. Push the test button to make sure each alarm is working.
  • Pick a meeting place outside. It should be in front of your home. Everyone will meet at the meeting place.
  • Make sure your house or building number can be seen from the street.
  • Talk about your plan with everyone in your home.
  • Learn the emergency phone number for your fire department.
  • Practice your home fire drill!
  • Draw your own home fire escape plan using this grid

 

More information

  • NFPA Escape Planning Tips
  • How to Make a Home Escape Plan
  • Practice Your Escape Plan Video

After a Fire

The Fire Prevention branch helps those impacted by fire. As part of our commitment to the residents in our region, the following information is intended as a guide for victims of fire and may not necessarily relate to your specific needs.

Recovering from a fire can be a challenging process for those impacted. Often, the hardest part is knowing the initial steps to take, and who to contact throughout the early recovery period.

The following guide may help you with some of the common issues associated with confusion and lack of information  immediately after a fire.

After the Fire Guide

More Information

Fire Prevention

  • National Fire Protection Association
  • Alberta Emergencies and Public Safety

Children and Fire Safety

  • Sparky the Fire Dog

 

 
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Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
9909 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray Alberta T9H 2K4

Phone: 780-743-7000
Toll free: 1-800-973-9663

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