Fire rules still lack despite years-old calls to fix
NDP ministers urged stricter laws when they were opposition critics
The fire this week in a Lethbridge seniors’ facility is a reminder that sprinklers are still not mandatory in all seniors’ facilities even though elected officials were demanding this two-and-ahalf-years ago.
“We need mandatory sprinklers, as well as strobe light alarms in all facilities, not just those four floors or higher,” said Deron Bilous, NDP infrastructure critic in a press release dated Jan. 27, 2014, after 30 seniors had died in a fire in Quebec in a building constructed in 1997, and was only partially fitted with sprinklers.
In Alberta, automatic sprinklers are only mandatory in buildings constructed after 1990, and not much has changed on that front, said Medicine Hat fire chief Brian Stauth.
“We can’t enact a bylaw that would require those retrofits. We can’t enact a bylaw to mandate residential sprinklers. The safety code act prevents us from doing that,” said Stauth. “The concept was to have consistent codes across the province. Nobody in Alberta has been successful in gaining an exemption from that.”
Sprinklers cut the risk of dying in a fire by 80 per cent according to industry statistics. People more than 65 years old are twice as likely, and those more than 85 are four times more likely to die in a fire, according to U.S. statistics.
The News requested comments from Lori Sigurdson, minister for housing and seniors. There was no response before the deadline.
In March 2015, the NDP government announced funding for sprinklers to be installed in government-controlled or operated facilities.
“Those same guidelines were given to all seniors’ home operators so that they might follow the same guidelines. The funding isn’t there for privates but none the less the guidelines are there,” said Stauth.
The Gardens Complex in Lethbridge was a few storeys high, similar to many of the privately-owned seniors’ facilities in Medicine Hat. For seniors not able to navigate stairwells in multi-floor buildings there is a fire safety plan for helping them, said Lance Purcell, deputy fire chief Medicine Hat Fire Service. Such buildings are identified if there are residents that will need assistance to evacuate.
“Our fire prevention works with them (owners/operators of the buildings) to ensure an evacuation plan is in place and they test that,” said Purcell. “Our No. 1 priority on scene is rescue. The fire operations come secondary.”
The most at risk will be removed working with the Medicine Hat Police Service and EMS assisting, said Purcell. If stairwells are blocked, smoke-filled rescue operations take place from windows and balconies using ladder and bucket trucks. Firefighters can carry seniors down the ladder if necessary.
Smoke is also controlled within the building with mandatory doors that close when a fire alarm goes off. Positive pressure fans could also be used to control smoke. Those doors remain closed unless there is a specific plan in place, said Purcell.
“The newer facilities are sprinklered so that would hold the fire down,” said Purcell. “It does not extinguish fires but it does hold them at bay.”
After the Quebec fire in 2014, NDP health critic at the time, David Eggen, now education minister, called for the PC government to enact the strictest fire codes in the country for seniors’ facilities and to implement sufficient staffing levels on evenings and weekends to ensure safety for all seniors in care.