The Saskatchewan government is teaming up with fire departments across the province to help spread the message of being ready in case of a fire.
It’s Fire Prevention Week in Saskatchewan, with this year’s theme being, Not every hero wears a cape — plan and practice your escape!
“Home fires today burn faster than ever, and occupants typically have as little as one or two minutes to escape,” said Mark Docherty, MLA for Regina-Coronation Park.
“The theme of this year’s Fire Prevention Week encourages us to make fire safety a family activity by focusing on the small things we can do together, like creating a home fire escape plan and practicing it regularly.”
There were 14 deaths caused by fires in the province in 2018-19, all but one were in residential properties.
“We have all kinds of different products that are used to construct and build furnishings so they do burn a lot faster, almost like burnable liquids,” said Layne Jackson, Regina fire chief.
“It causes a fire to burn and spread that much faster.”
Jackson said cooking is the main cause of fires in Regina, and that newcomers are often involved in some of the city’s worst cases.
This is why the province and local fire departments are also putting emphasis on educating those who are in the country for the first time.
“We’re putting our resources towards that. We recognize the problem and trying to bring down numbers through education,” Jackson said.
This past summer, Regina fire taught about 100 young newcomers on interactive fire safety through one of their presentations.
To learn more about fire prevention visit the province’s website.
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