Fire Prevention week was proclaimed Monday in downtown Regina.
Regina Fire Department, as well as the provincial government and other dignitaries were on hand to unveil this year’s theme: ‘Not every hero wears a cape – plan and practice your escape.’
@Sparky_Fire_Dog meeting with the kids today as the province announces Fire Prevention Week in downtown #yqr. #sask #skpoli #FirePreventionWeek pic.twitter.com/liDz5PuLzU
— Ryan McNally (@RyanE_McNally) October 7, 2019
Mayor Michael Fougere said cooking fires are becoming a serious issue in Regina.
“There’s many, many house fires that happen because of what happens in the kitchen, and that really is an important element,” Fougere said. “The University of Regina had a study done about a year and a half ago that talked a lot about that’s the source of a lot of fires are.”
Fire Chief Layne Jackson said readiness and escape planning are the first line of defence against a fire.
“Our firefighters are always at a state of readiness and ready to respond, but we count on people being educated and being able to save themselves,” Jackson said. “It’s the most important element of prevention.”
Jackson said there’s now a focus on educating newcomers to Canada.
“In 2014, we had a couple of devastating fires, and they happened on the same day, they were two apartment fires that left 27 families without homes and it was a cooking fire,” Jackson said. “We started to realize cooking was our leading cause of fires now in the city, and we also, through some research and partnership with the U of R, determined that newcomers were suffering some of the most severe fires when it came to cooking.”
Of the 14 deaths caused by fire in the province in 2018 and early 2019, 13 of them happened in residential properties.