Rural residents need to make exit plans and be specific in giving directions to fire and rescue services
Canada leads the world in fire deaths and it isn’t related to building codes, fire departments or long response times, says TimVandenbrink, deputy fire chief of the City of Spruce Grove.
“This may surprise you, because it’s (Canada) one of the worst — more people die in fires in Canada than any other country in the industrialized world today,” he said at the Smoky Lake Agricultural Conference.
The reason for Canada’s sad fire record? The lack of interest in preparing for a fire plan, Vandenbrink said. Eighty-five per cent of fire fatalities are in the home, and a quarter of those are children.
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Ironically, the children are doing a better job of planning than their parents, Vandenbrink said. He praised elementary school students for their awareness and ability to respond efficiently and effectively during fire drills.
“I can walk into any school in our city, and I did in Edmonton for years, and I can pull the fire bell and I will personally guarantee that buildings with upwards of 700 and 800 people will be evacuated in under two minutes,” Vandenbrink said. “In less than three minutes, those children will be evacuated and accounted for.
“I don’t show them fancy films on fire safety, and I don’t give them talks on fire safety, he said. “I make them do fire safety. As a result, kids do it better than anyone else.”
As people get older, they start to disregard safety and fire drills, Vandenbrink said. Adults are the worst, as they don’t take fire drills seriously. Vandenbrink said adults don’t practise fire drills. They just hold meetings and then write fire-safety plans and put them in books on the shelf. Many are extremely reluctant to pull fire alarms in public buildings and the average person also doesn’t pay attention to the location of fire alarms, Vandenbrink said.
Escape plan vital
But while children do fire safety well in schools, they aren’t taught how to escape from their homes in the case of fire. Vandenbrink recommends that every home have an escape plan. In case of an emergency, all family members should leave together, so that no one has to go back into the house to look for anyone.
Vandenbrink said parents need to be examples to their children, and should make the effort to hold regular fire drills.
“If you’ve planned for it and talked about it, it’s not that hard to do,” he said.
People living on farms need to prepare differently, since they are far away from their neighbours, Vandenbrink said. He recommends keeping a phone outside the house, as well as a set of keys outside so vehicles can be accessed. Families should also think about keeping emergency blankets outside the house.
Knowing how to give a precise location to fire and rescue services is extremely important in rural areas, Vandenbrink said.
“You know, the idea of ‘The old Johnson place,’ or ‘Blueberry Hill’ means nothing to the dispatcher. You’ve got to know where you are.”
Children should be taught how to call, what to say and how to give their precise address so emergency personnel can locate them. Some rural communities may have assigned emergency plots to parcels of land, and all family members should know these co-ordinates.
