Non-working smoke alarm cited in fatal Toronto fire - had no battery!

A house fire that claimed the lives of two people last weekend in Toronto was the result of a pot of oil left unattended. The home had a smoke alarm but no battery in it.

On Sunday emergency crews raced to a North York house fire but were unaware to save a father and daughter trapped inside. Ken Eidboden and daughter Britney, 12, died as a result of that fire. Toronto Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention and Public Education Frank Lamie said during a phone interview that the smoke alarm on the main floor's battery was too low to activate. "Had the smoke alarm been working this tragedy would not have happened.

It was totally preventable," Lamie said sadly. "There is no reason for so many people in Toronto to be dying as a result of fires in this day and age." Chief Lamie said that the time is over when warnings are given when they discover non-operational smoke alarms. Comparing smoke alarms to the seat belt laws Lamie said his department are now going to reinforce and lay charges when they come across smoke alarms violations on spot checks. "When my staff has gone out on door to door education programs we have found less than 40 percent of the public being complaint to the law. That has to change.

Smoke alarms are your first defense when a fire happens. The laws have been in place in Ontario since 2005 and come with a heavy fine. For residents the fine is up to $50,000 and for landlords up to $100,000." Lamie oversees a staff of 25. His staff is dedicated to public education. Lamie said that another serious risk for home fires is walking away from a pot of oil on the stove.

"Within 15 minutes a pot of oil on a high setting can smoke and boil over. The flames that result are three to four feet high. Those flames can quickly ignite everything in your kitchen and spread quickly throughout your home. If you have a working fire alarm it will alert you that smoke is filling your home before the fire has a chance to start."

In Ontario those fire alarms are required on every level of a home and in the hallway area of bedrooms. "Make sure your children know what the fire alarm sounds like. We have found that children who are not aware of the sound of a fire alarm will sleep through them." Fires do occur. When they do having a family fire escape plan already in place can save lives. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable during a fire. "I can not stress this enough, once you are safely out of a burning building stay out," Lamie said. Another safety tip for families with young children is to teach your children not to hide in the closet or under the bed during a fire. Their natural reaction when afraid is to hide. That reaction can have deadly results.

Source: Digital Journal