By Liam Verster

Fire Safety

Early morning fire prompts call for fire safety, hydrant access

Jan 15, 2020 | 3:25 PM

A house in Grande Prairie’s Country Club West neighbourhood was damaged, and the attached garage was destroyed, by an early morning fire on Wednesday. The fire has prompted the Grande Prairie Fire Department to warn residents to always practice fire safety.

Fire crews responded to the blaze shortly after 2 a.m. and quickly extinguished the fire. No one was injured in the blaze, the cause of which is currently under investigation.

Fire Marshall James Kostuk says while it may not have been the case at this fire, it’s important for residents to make sure the fire hydrants in their neighbourhoods are cleared of snow.

“In the winter, of course, when we heavy snowfall, it’s often difficult to find fire hydrants. And fires grow very quick, we only have about three minutes or less once you hear your smoke alarm to get out quickly and safely, so every second counts. So, we ask all residents to make sure that they shovel out the hydrants, they’re clearly visible from the road and knock down the snowbanks so we can get to them quickly.

He says if crews arrive and have to dig out a hydrant, it can put them back on actually fighting the fire. He says in a potentially life and death situation, every second counts.

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Kostuk goes on to say that while it is extremely cold outside, there’s always a need to practice fire safety.

“This time of year, when it gets extremely cold like this, it puts everyone at risk. If you have a newer home, and if you have a high-efficiency furnace or hot water on demand, one thing you want to do is go outside and check your exhaust and air intake and make sure they aren’t blocked with any snow or ice. Quite often with the humidity in the steam, they can ice up, and if that blocks up… If your exhaust gets blocked with the ice build-up, you can have carbon monoxide enter your home. So that’s very dangerous this time of year, so you want to make sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector inside your home, as well as a working smoke alarm.”

With the extreme cold, many people are finding ways to keep their houses warm, like using space heaters, which Kostuk says can cause fires.

“So you want to make sure that you don’t have anything near a one-metre radius near that space heater. You want to keep that buffer away from anything that can burn. And just make sure people, small children, they don’t play near it. You don’t want to get it knocked over.”

He adds that chimneys for wood-burning fireplaces need to be professionally cleaned regularly, as creosote, which is very combustible, can build up in the chimney. He adds that carbon monoxide sensors and fire detectors should also be installed and working in homes.

Kostuk says while it’s still very cold, it doesn’t mean there’s no risk of house fires.

“We do have ebbs and flows with fire statistics within the city. Quite often, we do see one or two significant instances every year from adverse weather throughout the season. In barbecue season we see a small increase in barbecue fires. No different than in the winter, when it gets cold we see an increase in space heater fires. So we do see an increase in fires with the season, so fire safety happens year-round, you can’t get complacent.”