Fire Prevention In North Frontenac

Oct 10, 2013

In an open house held at the Ompah fire hall on October 8, staff and volunteer firefighters with the North Frontenac Fire Department educated visitors through a number of hands-on demonstrations after feeding them barbequed burgers and dogs. North Frontenac Fire Chief Steve Riddell demonstrated the proper way of using a fire extinguisher and stressed the fact that when doing so to never put the fire between yourself and your planned escape route.

At a second location volunteer fire fighters put out a live kitchen grease fire that they started. Riddell said the focus this year was on preventing kitchen fires and one tip he stressed was that people should never leave a pot cooking in the kitchen unattended. Specials guests at the event included Melinda Hamill and Ed Lehovich of Embers in Perth, sellers and installers of wood stoves who were promoting chimney cleaning, how to properly process the wood you burn and the importance of the safe and proper installation of wood burning devices in residences in order to prevent chimney fires.

Ed highlighted the fact that 85% of house fires attributed to wood stoves are in fact a result of the improper handling of ashes. “Ashes and coals can stay active for up to 48 hours. They should be put in a double bottomed, metal lidded, metal container, never a cardboard box or plastic container. The container should be placed outside on a non-combustible surface, either on a cement pad or a patio stone and then left for 2 days until the ashes are out and cold - and then just to be really sure... left for another two days before they are dumped out,” Ed explained.

Ompah resident Barbara Sproule had a chance to douse a fire using an ABC extinguisher. Along with the free burgers and hot dogs, lucky visitors left knowing more about the nature of fire, and some like me, left knowing a lot more about fire prevention. The North Frontenac Fire Department will host a second open house, also with a free BBQ and demonstrations at the Clar-Mill Fire Hall in Plevna tonight, Oct 10 from 6-8pm.