STATEMENT FROM TIM BECKETT, PRESIDENT, ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS

Orillia retirement home owner convicted of two charges under Ontario Fire Code

AJAX, ON, Oct 1 /CNW/ - The fire chiefs of Ontario acknowledge that a retirement home and its administrator have been convicted of violating the Ontario Fire Code, after the Office of the Fire Marshall's investigation of a 2009 fatal retirement home fire. The fire at the Muskoka Heights Retirement Home in Orillia resulted in the tragic deaths of four senior citizens and the critical injury of six others.

The four individuals who perished in this facility join the 40 others who have died in care occupancy fires since 1980. That is a discouraging statistic. But we are encouraged by the fact that this is the first time that a facility and its administrator have been convicted of violating the Ontario Fire Code.

Ontario's fire chiefs support the justice system in its recognition of the seriousness of violating the Fire Code, and the tragedies that may ensue.  These convictions send a clear message: failure to comply with the Fire Code is unacceptable.

Although convictions after the fact are good, prevention is even better. While investigators and the courts continue to do their job, Ontario's fire chiefs and the provincial government need to do ours. That job is to remind people that prevention saves lives, at the same time as we implement additional fire prevention measures.

One of these measures is mandating automatic fire sprinklers in all care occupancies, such as retirement homes. These facilities are entrusted with the care of our most vulnerable citizens: our parents, grandparents, and people with special needs. To us, these buildings are institutions. To their residents, they are home.

We will continue to work with the Ontario government to educate the public about fire prevention, while we look for and introduce improvements that will help keep all of us safer where we live, work, learn and play.

For further information:

Tim Beckett
President, Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs
Fire Chief, City of Kitchener
[email protected]
519-741-2496 (office)