Homeowner fined $40,000 for secondary suite violations

A Calgary homeowner has been slapped with $40,000 in fines for secondary suite violations under the Alberta Fire Code, the city said Wednesday.

John Wade Jr. was convicted of four Safety Codes Act offences at his residential rental property in McKenzie Lake that had been occupied by a mother and son for several months.

In provincial court, Wade Jr. was found to have failed to provide minimum life safety standards by: failing to ensure each bedroom had one outside window as required by the Alberta Building code, failing to ensure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were interconnected and permanently connected to an electrical circuit, and not having fire separation for the furnace room as required in the Alberta Fire Code.

“We are pleased with the Court’s decision to convict the property owner and impose a substantial fine for his violations of the Alberta Fire Code,” said Paul Frank, prosecutor for the City of Calgary.

“People need to be safe when living in secondary suites, and this conviction and significant fine sends the message that property owners with secondary suites must comply with all requirements of the Alberta Fire Code.”

The fines come as the city approaches the 10th anniversary of a fire in a secondary suite in the basement of a Parkdale home that claimed the lives of three young adults and seriously injured a fourth.

Investigators determined the fire, in January 2009, was caused by a space heater and found no proper exit windows in the suite.

Fire marshal Jim Robinson said the Calgary Fire Department will continue to work with secondary suite owners to ensure compliance with the fire code. “The Fire Enforcement Compliance team always prefers to achieve compliance through education, however, when that’s not possible, legal action becomes necessary in the interest of public safety.”

To be deemed legal, all secondary suites must meet minimum life safety standards and be listed on the city ’s secondary suite registry.

For more information on secondary suites, visit calgary.ca/ suites.