How are you protecting your family from fire?

Today, we are going on a home inspection with Ottawa Fire Services. Together, we’ll go from room to room looking for fire hazards and sharing safety tips. Today’s host is Shirley.

On the latest episode of OttaTalk, we speak with Fire Prevention Officers Leanne Labbee and Andrew Watson about how we can prevent fires in our homes – and what to do if there is one.

Listen now and follow along in your home:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• YouTube

Links for this episode are: 

• Fire safety: Alarms and extinguishers, indoor and outdoor fire safety
• Fire education, community awareness and outreach
• About Ottawa Fire Services
• SoundCloud

OttaTalk is the official City of Ottawa podcast, where City staff talk about programs, projects and initiatives that affect your everyday life. How are movies filmed in Ottawa? What are we doing to solve homelessness? What does By-law do all day? We have the questions and the answers on OttaTalk.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hello and welcome to Auto Talk. Or maybe today we should call it Auto Walk, because we are literally going to walk through a home talking about fire safety tips and looking for fire hazards. So listen in or maybe look in, maybe if you're watching this from YouTube, and follow along in your own home while we talk with Ottawa Fire Services as they leave the store. Our theme music to start the show today is titled Mirrored Syndicate by Peter McNestry. We start and end every podcast with local artists featured on our City Sounds playlist, which you can find on SoundCloud. You can also find a link to our playlist in our show notes, and you will hear more from Peter McNestri at the end of our podcast. It's another reason to stay until the end. My name is Shirley Mann, and I work with the Public Works Department. I'm an operational excellence strategist, which means I support leadership development with our supervisors and managers in Public Works. Today's interview with Ottawa Fire Services is actually not taking place in studio, but live on location at a home graciously donated to us by a friend. Thanks, Phil. We've done this so that you, our dear listeners, can follow along on a similar journey in your own home while you listen, or you can also watch this podcast on YouTube. We're going to talk about a lot of things today. For example, lithium ion batteries, carbon monoxide detectors, and maybe some provincial rules you might not have heard about. Personally, I know when I'm talking about fire, I would want to know more about pets and how to manage pets in an emergency situation like this. So maybe we'll get a chance to ask some of those questions. I'm so excited to be here and learn directly from two staff with Ottawa Fire Services. Ottawa Fire Services responds from 45 stations across the city, which spans just under 2,800 square kilometers. If you didn't know, that's about four times the size of Toronto. And if you have a question or comments about any of the podcasts, send us a message at podcast-balado at Ottawa.ca. Joining me today is Leanne Labby, who we're going to meet in a little bit, and Andrew Watson.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Hi, thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Our absolute pleasure. Andrew and Leanne are two fire prevention officers from Ottawa Fire Services. Now, I have an icebreaker question to start. Can you tell us what a fire prevention officer is and what you do?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Well, as a fire prevention officer, we are uh certified inspectors. We're enforcement agents to uphold uh the legislation in the Ontario Fire Code. But we're also public educators. So actually, our office, Leanne and I, we're part of the public education division. We can go out and we talk to children, grade three, grade four, kindergarten, all the way up to senior citizens and uh corporate employees in fire safety programs.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

It's never too early to start talking about fire prevention.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

No, the kids will get it in school, uh, grade three, grade six, grade eight, grade twelve, and then after they leave school, there's no public education.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

So when we get the opportunity to come out and talk and interact with adults, we'll jump on it.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Excellent. Well, we're very lucky to have you today. So we are standing in the front entrance of our home right now. Andrew, what should we be thinking about here in terms of fire safety?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Well, to start off with, fire safety absolutely starts on the outside. Make sure your house number is visible. It's clear. They can see it from the street. Crews need to know where they're going. You're coming up to your front entry, you want it clear, free of obstructions, safe for all responders, not just fire. If you ever had to have an ambulance get in the door with a gurney, you want to make sure that they can see the house and get into the house.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Those are some excellent points.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

And you mentioned uh pets, you know, a pet sticker or a pet indicator you can get from the Humane Society or Amazon, some other kind of indication on the door that lets the responders know that you have pets inside. We'll go to an extra measure to make sure we find them.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

That is an excellent tip. Thank you for sharing that with our listeners. Let's head inside.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

So, Leanne, we are now in the living room. The living room is where we can find things like chargers, people charging tablets. We might find a digital photo frame. And these things all have batteries, lithium-ion batteries. Is that right? That is true.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Lithium-ion batteries are actually the number one most rechargeable battery, number one rechargeable battery that we use. So it's amazing because it stores all of this major energy in this very tiny spot. But with that being said, we have to take care of them and we have to respect them. So, big thing with your living room is make sure that you're not charging them wrapped in blankets or in the cushions. Have them on a hard surface. Make sure that nothing that you're charging, especially if it's electric bikes, scooters, they're not blocking your way out. Uh, and you're using the appropriate charger. The charger, preferably, that came with the device when you purchased it. And if that does break, make sure that you're going to a reputable manufacturer to purchase a new one.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

What else should we be looking for here?

SPEAKER_02 5:27

What about extension cords or candles? That is a great question, a great question to bring up. Extension cords are huge. Extension cords are actually only meant for temporary use. So they're not meant to be a permanent solution if you have something that you want over here and your plug is all the way over there. If that is the case, we do recommend that you use what's called a power bar and ensuring that it has a surge protector so that should any of the devices take too much energy, it's just going to shut off the power bar rather than blow the circuits, possibly behind the wall, starting a big fire. So tell us about candles. Candles are great, they're beautiful, but we need to remember that when we light them, when we go out, we blow out. So not leaving them when we're not around it. Also making sure that they're in very sturdy containers that can't be knocked out over easily, especially by our pets that like to visit things. And to be honest, I would prefer if everybody just decided to use battery-operated candles. They're a much safer option. They give off the same look, but they do not have the fire risk that goes with lit candles.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

There we are. Excuse the pun. Now, Andrew, is it true that most fires start in the kitchen?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yes, absolutely. Actually, the number one cause of house fires in Ontario is a kitchen fire. And the number one cause of a kitchen fire? Unattended cooking. Right? So our biggest message is stay in the kitchen when you cook. Number one.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Should I also be keeping a fire extinguisher in the kitchen? And if so, where should that be located?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Absolutely. Fire extinguishers are proven. You can get them at any uh reliable outlet in the province. Um, if you're gonna buy one, you can buy one that is specific to your needs. You can get large ones for the garage, you can get smaller ones for the kitchen, you can even get some that look like a can of hairspray if you have dexterity problems, which is just nice and small. So I totally recommend getting an extinguisher. Go to the stores, talk to the crew members at the stores, they're really knowledgeable, and get one that's suited to your needs. As for where you want to put it, we recommend away from the stove, on your way to the exit, because in a dire situation, that is going to help you get out.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

That's great to know about the smaller fire extinguishers. I also hear people talking about fire blankets. What do you think about fire blankets in the kitchen?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Well, that's a really interesting comment, and I'm gonna just say it bluntly. We got a memo from the fire marshal's office for the province of Ontario, who is our boss, and they are not endorsing the fire blanket at this time. So we're not recommending it. Not to say that it's not gonna prove to have its niche somewhere in the market, but right now the lid for the pot, the fire extinguisher, right? That's what you want. Or when in doubt, just get out.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

So sometimes when I'm cooking, sometimes I set off the fire alarm. Can you talk to us a little bit about that happening and if there's anything we can do to reduce that?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Well, if you have a smoke alarm in your house on the main floor near your kitchen and it keeps going off if you're cooking toast or just light temperature items, you can look into replacing it with a different type of alarm. There's generally two types photoelectric or ionization. They're marketed like the uh the nuisance alarm, which is photoelectric in this case. You could have it near the kitchen. It is less likely to go off with toast or slight heat variations. It'll still do the job and it still has to be there, but it's less likely to do that. The same button that we call the test button, it's also a hush button. So if it does go off, all you gotta do is push the button and it will go quiet for 10 minutes and reset itself.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Good to know. All right, let's move on in our tour and head to what the Ontario Fire Code calls the sleeping area. Alrighty, so now we're in the hallway where the bedrooms are, and we want to talk a little bit about alarms. Can you tell us what kind of alarms we should be thinking about? How many should we have? Where should they be?

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Yeah, so it really depends on the location of your sleeping areas. That's a word that we use within the Ontario fire code. So you want to have an alarm on every floor of your home, when we're talking smoke alarm, on every floor of your home and outside of where every room that you sleep in. So in this case, with all the bedrooms being in this home, with all the bedrooms being at one end of the home, we just need the one that will cover the sleeping areas as well as the floor. They would need an additional one in the basement to cover that level. Uh the same goes for carbon monoxide, because as we've noticed, this location does have natural gas, and that is one of the things we look for when determining if a carbon monoxide alarm is required. So as of January of this year, the law changed, and carbon monoxide alarms used to be required only outside of where you sleep. They're now required on every floor of your home and outside of sleeping areas, just like smoke alarms.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

So, Leanne, I live in a building and I've noticed they test our alarms once a month. For homeowners, what should we be thinking about when it comes to maintaining our alarms?

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Yeah, that's an excellent question. So it's really important to test them once a month. If you actually read the manufacturer's instructions that come with all of the alarms, they're very important by the way, so keep them. Um, they'll tell you to test them once a month. They'll also tell you that if the bat if there is a battery in it, whereas this one has a 10-year sealed battery, uh, if there's a battery in it to change it annually. Not these ones, because they don't have to be. Um, and it's always a good idea every six months or so, give it a quick vacuum with the bristled attachment. It'll help keep it clean so that none of the dust or anything builds up that could lead to false alarms.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Leanne, what about the location of this alarm here? Is this a good spot for it?

SPEAKER_02 11:24

So, in the case with this residence, it is in an okay spot. Ideally, though, we would really like to see it on the ceiling here. It'll be more effective as smoke rises, just like heat rises.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Okay, so the last room we have here is the bathroom. And I feel like I could skip this one, but I'm also thinking about the hair tools I have in my bathroom and my electric toothbrush. What can we talk about here?

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of people would think the same as you that where am I really gonna have a fire start in the bathroom? But we forget that we use a lot of electric devices in there hair dryer, curling iron, straightener, things like that. So we want to make sure that we're not overextending our plugs so we're only plugging in the right amount, um, and that we're unplugging them when we're finished because we don't want the continued energy. And with your electric toothbrush, make sure that you're following the manufacturer's instructions for charging so that you can ensure that you're not damaging or doing anything to the lithium-ion battery that's located inside them.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

And it's always very important too to keep anything electric away from water.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Of course. Thank you for that reminder. All right, let's take this tour full circle. We started it at the front door, and now we are going to head to the back door where we will wrap things up. So, Andrew, we are standing at the backyard right now. We spent so much time talking about the inside of the home. I feel like there's things that we should be thinking about on the outside as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Oh, absolutely. Um, number one, we have a back door. We have a second exit to the house. We also want to make sure that that's clear, that's easy to get out of. You know, when we get outside, days like today, we love being outside. The weather's great, we love entertaining outside, barbecues, um, patio furniture, patio tables, the do's and don'ts, garbage, recycling, smoking, butt cans outside. Those types of things are all things to think about. Um, with smoking in butt cans, common sense. Use sand in a can, use water, don't use a flower bed. Uh, potting soil can become combustible when it dries out, right? Um keep the butt can away from the cardboard recycling. Things can happen and they have happened. Um, as for barbecues and entertaining, you know, we're entertaining cooking, stay at the barbecue when we cook, just like in the kitchen. Fire tables in the city of Ottawa, the propane gas ones, they're permitted. If you live rurally, you can check with the city. There are permits available for outdoor fires, but in the urban core, outdoor campfires not allowed.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

That's right. Thanks for all these tips about things to think about now that we're spending more time outside.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

So, Andrew, I love having a little fire outside. Uh, what would it look like if I were to try to apply for a fire permit?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Uh that depends on where you live. Now, if you go to the City of Ottawa website, Ottawa.ca slash fire, follow the links, you can actually find out about an open-air fire permit. You can enter your address. It will tell you whether or not you're allowed. Because remember, in the urban core, you're not allowed any open burning whatsoever. It will also tell you whether or not there's a fire ban in place for the entire city, rural or urban.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Sounds like a great place to get some information.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

It's a great place to get some information.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Well, that concludes our tour. Thanks again to both Leanne and Andrew from Ottawa Fire Services for joining us. So this is the end of the podcast, but as we always say, it's not the end of the conversation. Remember to visit Ottawa.ca for more information about the programs that you've heard on this podcast. And always be on the lookout for upcoming announcements about more City of Ottawa podcasts, because that's when we ought to talk about something entirely different. Any city programs or services we talk about in the program notes will be found in the program notes wherever you're streaming this podcast from, or you can search for them on the city website, which is Ottawa.ca. The program notes also have a link to the city's YouTube channel where you can find our entire podcast archive. To play us out, here is a little bit more of Neared Syndicate by Peter McGestry.