Guelph residents may find a firefighter at their front door in the coming weeks, but not for an emergency.
The firefighters are working on an educational campaign to make sure people know what to do to protect themselves from fires or carbon monoxide and what to do in the case of an emergency.
Matt Valeriote is the city's chief fire prevention officer and says the campaign stems from a particularly devastating 12-month period starting in 2024 when the city saw seven fire-related deaths.
That's pretty much unheard of in a city our size," he told CBC News.
"Public fire safety education is extremely important in reducing risk and we consider it, what's called the first line of defence in preventing fires and saving lives."
Under Ontario law, working smoke alarms must be installed on every level of a home and outside all sleeping areas. As well, as of Jan. 1 of this year, Ontario requires working carbon monoxide alarms installed in homes with fuel-burning appliances, fireplaces, attached garages.
In one of the 2024 fires, the landlords were fined and one was jailed in February of this year. In that fire, two people died at a rental home in the area of Edinburgh Road S. and Wilsonview Avenue. It was determined there were no working smoke alarms in their unit when the fire broke out on March 11, 2024.
After the landlords were sentenced, Jennifer Charles of the city's general manager of legal and court services and the city solicitor’s office said it wasn't common for people to be incarcerated for fire safety offences.
"We hope the decision will serve as public education, showing other property owners the importance of fire prevention and life safety measures, and the seriousness of their legal obligations under the fire code," Charles said.
In the lead up to starting the knock-and-talk educational campaign, Guelph Fire Chief Steven Goode said in a release that he hopes residents take a few minutes to ask questions to get the information they may feel they're missing.
“Fire safety starts at home,” Goode said.
What to expect from a visit
When firefighters arrive at the door, they will have information pamphlets or sheets with them. Valeriote says they will be dressed in their firefighter uniforms and will not ask to come inside the house.
They will be knocking on doors in their districts:
- Monday to Friday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
- On weekends 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The plan is to run the campaign until the end of October to also catch students who are returning to university in the fall.
"This program is totally voluntary. If they don't want to answer the doors, they don't have to answer the doors," Valeriote said.
"If they don't want to ask questions, we will just generally provide them with fire safety information. We're going to be focusing on smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire escape planning in the home, all of which are mandated by law and extremely important in reducing fires, fire related injuries and fire deaths."
He said the hope is also to strengthen community ties between firefighters and people living in the city and for the fire department to better understand community needs and trends.