Toronto Community Housing Announces No Stovetop Cooking Fires in 2 Years on
Safe-T-element Equipped Stoves
Toronto Community Housing and Toronto Fire Services Celebrate 1000th Safe-T-element installation
TORONTO and LAS VEGAS, June 9 /CNW/ - Toronto Community Housing and Toronto Fire Services announced today at the National Fire Protection Association's Conference and Expo in Las Vegas the installation of the 1000th new electric stove equipped with the Safe-T-element cooking system in a Toronto Community Housing facility. The Safe-T-element is a Canadian product innovation that helps prevent stovetop cooking fires by controlling the high end temperature of the burners so that you can still cook efficiently but common household materials will not ignite and it saves energy. Stovetop cooking fires are the number one cause of household fire in North America.
As one part of a comprehensive fire safety plan, Toronto Community Housing began installing Safe-T-element in two of its highest profile urban renewal projects - Rivertowne and Regent Park.
"We are pleased to announce that in the past two years we have not had any cooking fires in any of the housing units where we have the Safe-T-elements installed," said Brian Laur, Manager of Insurance and Risk Management, Toronto Community Housing. "Now in addition to the new developments we are now mandating that all new replacement stoves in existing buildings be equipped with the Safe-T-element cooking system."
According to the Canadian Fire Safety Association cooking equipment was identified as the leading ignition sources attributed to preventable home fires in Ontario, averaging 1,494 fires annually or 24% of all preventable home fires. Between 2004 and January 2010 Toronto Community Housing experienced 127 cooking fires at a cost of $2.1 million.
"Cooking fires continue to be a leading cause of fire deaths in our City. The best way to fight a fire is to stop them before they start," said Frank Lamie, Deputy Fire Chief of Toronto Fire Services. "We applaud Toronto Community Housing for being a leader in fire prevention by installing Safe-T-elements in their housing units. Tenants will now have further safety measures in place to prevent cooking fires."
Toronto Community Housing is Canada's largest social housing landlord with approximately 60,000 housing units that are home to more than 164,000 tenants with low and moderate income - about six per cent of the City of Toronto's population.
In a 2009 Study by the Office of the Fire Marshal, stovetop fires incident rates in multi-unit buildings were more than two times higher than in detached dwellings and stovetop fire incident rates in subsidized residential dwellings were three times higher than in non-subsidized residential dwellings.
The patented Safe-T-element cooking system was developed by Pioneering Technology Corp. of Mississauga, Ontario and is the only technology of its kind available that helps prevent stovetop cooking fires before they start. Safe-T-element is installed in hundreds of multi-residential public, senior, university and military housing developments across North America. Safe-T-element has been awarded the U.S. Home Safety Council's Commendation Award for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety.
About Toronto Community Housing: --------------------------------
Toronto Community Housing is the largest social housing provider in Canada and the second largest in North America. It is home to about 164,000 low and moderate-income tenants in 58,500 households, including seniors, families, singles, refugees, recent immigrants to Canada and people with special needs. The mandate of Toronto Community Housing is to provide quality housing for low and moderate income households and to create community conditions that minimize risk and promote resiliency. For more information contact: Brian Laur, Manager of Insurance and Risk Management, Toronto Community Housing at 416-981-4332 or visit www.torontohousing.ca.
About Toronto Fire Services: ----------------------------
Toronto Fire provides services for Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and livability for all its residents. Media contact: Toronto Fire Services, 416-338-0763.
About Pioneering Technology Corp and the Safe-T-element Cooking System: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pioneering is an "Energy Smart" product innovation company based in Mississauga, Ontario, that engineers and brings to market energy smart solutions for consumer products making them safer, smarter and/or more efficient. The patented Safe-T-element(R) cooking system was engineered to help prevent stove top cooking fires, the number one cause of fire in North America, and to reduce the amount of electricity required to cook. The Safe-T-element(R) cooking system is available as both a retrofit and pre-installed on new stoves. For Further Information contact: Kevin R. Callahan, President and CEO of Pioneering, at (905) 712-2061 ext. 222 or visit www.pioneeringtech.com.
The statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, such as the economy, generally, competition in the Company's target markets, the demand for the Company's products, the availability of funding, the efficacy of the Company's technology and governmental regulation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof an, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy and accuracy of this release.
For further information: Kevin Callahan, President and CEO of the Company, at (905) 712-2061 x222
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