INNISFAIL - This year most everyone can be a hero when it comes to fire safety in their home and place of business.
They can do it any time of course, but it's especially important to take note of it during Fire Prevention Week (FPW) from Oct. 6 to 12. The event has been observed since 1922 as a result of the Great Chicago fire of 1871 that killed 250 people, destroyed 17,400 structures and left 100,000 residents homeless.
This year’s FPW theme, Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!, is designed to educate everyone about the small but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe. And when it comes to fire safety, the all important message for citizens is to have an escape plan and to keep practising it.
"It's always relevant. What we would emphasize is what we have always said and that is for people to have a plan, but what is important and what we need to stress this year is that we need to practise that plan, as a family or a group or wherever the family unit is," said Gary Leith, the fire chief for the Town of Innisfail.
Leith also emphasized that this all important safety message is not only for homeowners but for businesses and public institutions.
"They (schools) have quarterly fire drills. There is an emphasis on practice. They are actually required by law to practise it," said Leith, adding school fire drills are required under the Alberta section of the National Fire Code. He noted a fire drill was actually carried out at a local school last month, and as many expect with the young, it can be like "herding cats," said Leith.
He added the current policy requires fire drills at each of the town's four schools be held every term -- summer, fall, spring and winter. If there is a drill in winter, the schools and students have been told through preplanning to make sure there is a go-bag that is immediately available to grab, as well as a warm coat that can be accessed quickly during evacuation.
Meanwhile, the local fire department is just as vigilant with fire drill practice at Autumn Glen Lodge, where construction is ongoing for the institution's $24.2-million replacement facility. Seniors will be moving into their new quarters next June. The lodge and its staff and residents are committed to doing two drills a year, sometimes a full evacuation, depending on the scenario that is being run.
"They have had to amend some of their escape routes based on the construction that is going on around their site. The staff does an awesome job and they take it very seriously," said Leith, noting the special challenges that have to be met during fire drills. "There are different mobility issues. Some are mobile. Some are non-mobile. Some are hard of hearing, some can't turn around and hear the alarm," he added. "The staff are all trained and have visual indicators to say whether residents are ambulatory, whether they are able to get out on their own, they are hard of hearing and may not be able to hear the alarm and whether they have sight impairments as well.
"The staff are trained to identify which residents require more assistance than others and which ones can make their own way out at most of the points," said Leith. "They (staff) mark and tag each room. As they look down the corridor there is a visual indicator to see which room has been cleared and which ones are still potentially occupied. They have good systems in place."
And Leith's home base outside the fire hall -- the town's administration building -- is not off the hook either when it comes to the FPW's all important message. As part of the Town of Innisfail's health and safety policy, staff regularly practise unannounced fire drills, one in the summer and another in winter.
