London’s firefighters are doing their part this week to stop fires before they start.
The city’s fire prevention week runs until Saturday with events planned throughout the city. This year’s theme is “Close Before You Doze” and stresses that a closed door can help slow fire’s spread and keep away dangerous smoke.
“Twenty years ago, you probably had upwards of 15, 20 minutes to get out, but with the synthetic furnishings that we have in our homes now — in our couches, in our drapery, in our carpets — you can reach a flashover state in your home in three minutes,” assistant deputy fire chief Jack Burt said during an appearance on London Live with Mike Stubbs.
“I watched a video last week where a whole room was consumed in one minute from a simple fire that happened on a floor.”
As a result, Burt stressed the importance of planning and practising an escape route.
“When you’ve got a minute to get out of your house, and your house is filling up with smoke and you might have one exit that’s blocked, do you really think you have the time to start planning a new exit? So make sure that you plan and practice that escape,” he said.
Burt also noted that just because a smoke alarm has power doesn’t mean it’s working.
“Most smoke alarms have a piece of radioactive material inside them, and that piece of radioactive material decays by half every year so your smoke alarm literally loses half its effectiveness. People still push the button, they think it works, but all that’s doing is testing the power supply to show that there’s power to it. The sensor is still decaying,” he explained.
A public education display will be at Westmount Shopping Centre from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday and at Bostwick Community Centre with the City of London from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The display will also make an appearance on Thursday at CF Masonville Place from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the South London Community Centre with the City of London from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. as well as at White Oaks Mall from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday.
Firefighters will also have a presence at Wednesday’s London Nationals game at Western Fair as well as Safety Day at Moffatt and Powell from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday at 1292 Hyde Park Rd. Crews will also join the inaugural Newcomer Day at City Hall and the Fire Prevention Safety Day events at the Costco South and Costco North locations on Thursday as well as a coffee with firefighters event on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the McDonald’s at 1950 Dundas St. E.
The week ends with Lowe’s Fire Safety Day from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at 3375 Wonderland Rd. S. The event, in conjunction with the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, focuses on the importance of working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Fire prevention week comes just days after fire officials sent out a safety reminder about unattended cooking.
Over the span of five days last week, firefighters responded to seven structure fires, five of which were cooking-related.
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