More than 100 people are out of their homes in Kelowna after a fire broke out at the at the Legacy II complex in Rutland.
It has now been determined that fire was started by a barbecue on someone’s balcony.
Fire officials say about 10 per cent of apartment fires are caused by barbecues and that all balconies ideally should have sprinklers.
Should barbecues on apartment balconies be banned? Some say yes.
“I think there’s three things to consider,” said Chief Len Garis with the Surrey Fire Department. “One, a sprinkler, but that’s very costly. If the building’s already sprinklerd, maybe that’s less costly by extending that sprinkler out on to the balcony. Maybe you can put an early detection system in so that you can alert people quicker, so they can respond to it. And the last thing would be, of course, removing all combustibles off the balcony. So there’s three things you could possibly do.”
Experts say barbecues are safe, but when people don’t clean them properly, that can be dangerous. The grease on the barbecues are what causes most of the fires to start.
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At least once or twice a year, take out the cooking grills and scrape away all the excess grease underneath. Also, clean the grills and the grease tray.
If you can smell gas with the barbecue off, do not turn it on.
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