NEWS RELEASE
CENTRAL YORK FIRE SERVICES
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Central York Fire Service (CYFS) along with Enbridge Gas and the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council announced they are working to improve home safety and bring fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths down to zero.
CYFS received 342 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms through Safe Community Project Zero – a public education campaign that will provide over 16,600 alarms to those in need in 70 municipalities across Ontario.
This year, Enbridge Gas invested $500,000 in Safe Community Project Zero, and over the past 13 years, the program has provided more than 68,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.
When properly installed and maintained, combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms help provide the early warning to safely escape from a house fire or carbon monoxide exposure. Carbon monoxide is a toxic, odourless gas that is a by-product of incomplete combustion of many types of common fuels.
“Last year in Central York, there were 86 fires, primarily residential, and 187 calls for carbon monoxide present in the home,” says Central York Fire Services Fire Chief, Ian Laing. “Our goal is to protect the safety of our residents by ensuring every home in Newmarket and Aurora has a functioning smoke alarm on each level of the home, and carbon monoxide alarms outside sleeping areas. Having working alarms installed provides residents with the early warning required to escape safely. Enbridge’s generous contribution is helping us get closer to meeting our goal.”
“Carbon monoxide is known as the ‘silent killer’ for a reason, and we have proof that prevention saves lives. We know that the best way to avoid carbon monoxide exposure is to eliminate it at the source by properly maintaining fuel-burning equipment and that the alarms are a critical second line of defence to protect against carbon monoxide poisoning,” says Steve McGivery, Director, GTA East Operations, Enbridge Gas Inc.
“The objective of Safe Community Project Zero is to deliver combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to Ontario communities who need them the most,” says Jon Pegg, Ontario Fire Marshal and Chair of the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council. “It’s a program that fire departments can adopt to help educate their communities about the requirement for all Ontario homes to have a CO alarm if they have a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage.”
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