Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services is working with Enbridge Gas to help improve the safety of homes across the municipality.
The Chatham-Kent fire department received 378 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms through Project Zero, a public education campaign that will provide a total of 7,500 alarms to residents in 35 municipalities across Ontario.
This year, Enbridge Gas invested $225,000 into Project Zero. The initiative has been ongoing for the past 12 years and has provided over 50,000 alarms to Ontario fire departments.
“The objective of Project Zero is to deliver combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to Ontario communities who need them the most,” said Ontario Fire Marshall Jon Pegg. “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.”
The donation of alarms will allow Chatham-Kent fire officials to continue their safety efforts across the community.
"Our CHiRP Program... which has firefighters visiting homes to check alarms and speak to residents about fire safety and emergency planning, is at the heart of all the community safety programs we deliver," said Public Educator Whitney Burk. "Our goal is to connect with those most vulnerable in our community by working in partnership with agencies across Chatham-Kent. Last year, CK Fire visited 2,550 homes and installed over 1,800 smoke and carbon monoxide alarms."
It appears the efforts are paying off. According to Burk, the statistics in Chatham-Kent are showing promise compared to the rest of the province.
"We’re seeing an increase in fire deaths across the province, however, locally in Chatham-Kent at the moment, fire deaths and injuries are tracking downwards," she said. "We have had no fire-related deaths since 2016. We did have a tragic house fire in Erieau in June of this year that is still under investigation. Either way, the four-year [stretch] marks the longest in CK history."