Montreal firefighters are launching a week-long campaign on fire safety this long holiday weekend — with a special focus on one of the most fatal kinds of domestic fires.
“About a third of the deaths that have occurred in Montreal in house fires, or apartment fires, can be attributed to kitchen fires,” explains Montreal City councillor Alex Norris, who chairs the city’s public safety commission.
There were 51 fatal domestic fires in Montreal between 2012 and 2017. Of them, 15 started on a stove.
“That’s a really high number and we need to bring that number down,” Norris said.
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Those numbers are why the Montreal fire department is focusing on kitchen fires during fire prevention week.
As part of the campaign, the fire prevention unit of the fire department will be going door to door to see if homes are fire safe.
They will also give tips about how to stop cooking fires, including not using water to put out a grease fire.
“It’s gonna make an explosion, so you’re going to burn yourself,” says firefighter Eric Lafrance.
“It’s really not a good idea.”
He says if the pot catches fire, the best thing to do is turn the stove off and then close the pot because the fire will extinguish itself. Then call the fire department in case grease inside the ventilation over the stove starts to burn and gets into the walls.
Fire prevention week is from Oct. 7-13.