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Fire

" In case of emergency, call 9-1-1 "

Photo Group Fire Dept.
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The municipality's fire department has a long tradition of volunteerism. With 48 active volunteers, two fire stations provide emergency services to the entire Township. The stations are located in Spencerville (6055 County Road 44) and Cardinal (4035 Dishaw Street). In addition, the Township maintains mutual aid agreements with neighbouring municipalities to ensure adequate coverage.

Contact Information

The Fire Chief is James Grant. General information inquiries should be directed to Chief Grant at 613-803-1620.

Burning Permits

Open air burning is not permitted in the built-up residential areas of Cardinal, Johnstown or Spencerville. By-law 2005-15 governs open burning in the Township. It is a requirement of the by-law (as amended by By-law 2010-26) that rural residents obtain a Conditional Burn Permit annually from the Township Office.  There is no fee for this permit.  After a Conditional Permit has been obtained, you must still get permission from the Fire Department prior to starting any open fires.

  • The Fire Department will let you know if it is safe to burn, or whether it is too dry or too windy to burn materials safely.
  • Please note: If you do not have permission to burn and the Fire Department is called to extinguish the fire, the fine is $600.

For further information, call Chief Grant at 613-803-1620.

 A copy of By-law 2005-15 is available here.  A sample Conditional Burn Permit is available here.

A REMINDER THAT SMOKE ALARMS SAVE LIVES - IT'S THE LAW!

Fire Safety Quiz

How alert are you to the dangers of fire?

Every year approximately 5,000 people are killed and 28,000 are seriously injured in fires in this country. Could you survive a fire?

Test your Fire Safety Awareness

1. Your smoke detector goes off and wakes you up. How much time do you have to get out of the house?

a. 1 minute

b. 5 minutes

c. 10 minutes

d. 15 minutes

2. After your smoke detector goes off, what do you do?

a. Jump out of bed and find out what's happening.

b. Go to the telephone and call the fire department.

c. Crawl to the door and slowly stand up to see if it's hot overhead.

3. You're at the door, what do you do next?

a. Open the door and locate the fire.

b. Slowly open the door and peek out.

c. Feel the door to see if it's hot.

4. If the door is hot, what should you do?

a. Do not open. Get out from alternate escape route.

b. Open the door slowly and peek out.

c. Place towels or sheets under door.

5. If the door is cool, what should you do?

a. Go to the telephone and call the fire department.

b. Get dressed, take your valuables and get out.

c. Go to the nearest exit, away from fire and get out.

d. Stay low under smoke and escape by nearest exit from fire.

6. Once out of your house or apartment, what should you do?

a. Go back for valuables.

b. Meet at pre-established meeting place with family members.

c. Fight fire with garden hose.

7. When should you test your smoke detector?

a. once a week

b. once a month

c. once a year

d. does not have to be tested

8. When should you practice a fire exit drill?

a. once a year

b. fire prevention week

c. twice a year

9. A pan of grease catches fire on the stove, what should you do?

a. use a fire extinguisher

b. Smother flames with a lid

c. dump baking soda on fire

d. pour water on pan

10. You're on vacation and your room is on the tenth floor of your hotel. A fire breaks out. You try to leave but the halls and stairs are filled with smoke. What should you do?

a. Go back to your room and call the fire department. Describe where you are in the building.

b. Place wet towels around the door to your room.

c. Open a window at the top or bottom if you need air.

d. Stay by window to signal fire fighters.

e. All of the above

Answers to fire safety awareness test

1. The correct answer is: (A). In a fire, survival is measured in seconds. However, don't panic - your safe escape may depend on clear thinking. The best way not to panic is to have planned and practiced a fire escape plan.

2. The correct answer is: (C). By crawling to the door you will stay under the smoke, close to the ground where the air is clearer. Remember, keep bedroom doors closed at night.

3. The correct answer is: (C). If the door is hot, opening it could kill you, oxygen would be added to the fire allowing it to spread into your bedroom.

4. The correct answer is: (A). Use your alternate escape route. Make sure windows are not painted shut and doors are not blocked by furniture.

5. The correct answer is: (D). Remember, you always want to stay low under the smoke. Never try to escape into a fire. Go into a room the fire hasn't entered and close the door. Then get out of the house by a window or door.

6. The correct answer is: (B). When you establish your family fire escape plan, decide on a meeting place away from the house for all family members. Never re-enter a burning building. Many lives are lost when people run back into a burning building.

7. The correct answer is: (A) or (B). Make sure smoke detectors are installed in key locations throughout the house and test them at least once a month. Keep spare batteries on hand to keep protected at all times.

8. The correct answer is: (C). You should practice a fire exit drill in warm weather as well as cold weather.

9. The correct answer is: (A) (B) or (C). Never try to put out a grease fire with water - it will spatter burning grease all over. Remember, if you are unable to stop the fire, get out of the house and call the fire department.

10. The correct answer is: (E). All the answers are correct. Never use the elevators - The electrical system could short out, leaving you trapped. Remember to keep your room key with you so you can re-enter your room. It's possible to stay safe in your room for a couple of hours with the door closed. Stay low near the bottom of the window so you can breathe fresh air. The wet towels around the door help seal out smoke.

How did you score?

Your life and the lives of your family may depend on your fire-safety knowledge. Plan and practice a fire exit drill today.

 

Smoke Detectors

Do you have smoke detectors in your home? Do they work?

By law, a smoke detector must be installed outside each bedroom or sleeping area in your home and on every level of your home. Keep your bedroom door closed while you are asleep.

Keep your smoke detectors properly maintained. Test them at least once every month to make sure they work.

If your smoke detector sounds an alarm when no smoke is present, consult with the manufacturer or with your local fire department. If smoke from cooking causes the detector to sound an alarm, do not remove the batteries or disconnect the power source. Fan the smoke away from the detector until the alarm stops. If this happens often, you may need to move the detector or install a different type of detector.

Make sure you have a family escape plan. Have home fire drills several times per year. Be aware that children and elderly people may need special assistance in the event of fire. When fire occurs, get out of the house and use a neighbor's telephone to call the fire department.

Test

Test your smoke detectors at least once a month. Push the test button or blow smoke into the detector.

Clean

Clean your detectors at least once a year. Vacuum out the dust.

Replace

Replace the battery every year. Better yet, twice a year-when you change your clocks in the spring and fall. Replace the detector after ten years.

 

Chimney Fires

As you snuggle in front of a cozy fire or bask in the warmth of your wood stove, you are taking part in a ritual of comfort and enjoyment handed down through the centuries. The last thing you are likely to be thinking about is the condition of your chimney. However, if you don't give some thought to it before you light those winter fires, your enjoyment may be very short-lived. Why? Dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires, which damage structures, destroy homes and injure or kill people.

Chimney fires can burn explosively - noisy and dramatic enough to be detected by neighbors or passersby. Flames or dense smoke may shoot from the top of the chimney. Homeowners report being startled by a low rumbling sound that reminds them of a freight train or a low flying air plane. However, those are only the chimney fires you know about. Slow-burning chimney fires don't get enough air or have enough fuel to be as dramatic or visible. But, the temperatures they reach are very high and can cause as much damage to the chimney structure - and nearby combustible parts of the house - as their more spectacular cousins. With proper chimney system care, chimney fires are entirely preventable.

Creosote / Chimney Fires-what you must know!

Fireplaces and wood stoves are designed to safely contain wood-fueled fires, while providing heat for a home. The chimneys that serve them have the job of expelling the by-products of combustion - the substances given off when wood burns.

As these substances exit the fireplace or wood stove, and flow up into the relatively cooler chimney, condensation occurs. The resulting residue that sticks to the inner walls of the chimney is called creosote. Creosote is black or brown in appearance. It can be crusty and flaky ... tar-like, drippy and sticky ... or shiny and hardened. Often, all forms will occur in one chimney system.

Whatever form it takes, creosote is highly combustible. If it builds up in sufficient quantities and catches fire inside the chimney flue, the result will be a chimney fire. Although any amount of creosote can burn, sweeps are concerned when creosote builds up in sufficient quantities to sustain a long, hot, destructive chimney fire.

Certain conditions encourage the buildup of creosote. Restricted air supply, unseasoned wood, and cooler-than-normal chimney temperatures are all factors that can accelerate the buildup of creosote on chimney flue walls.

  • Air supply: The air supply in fireplaces may be restricted by closed glass doors or by failure to open the damper wide enough to move heated smoke up the chimney rapidly (the longer the smoke's "residence time" in the flue, the more likely is it that creosote will form). A wood stove's air supply can be limited by closing down the stove damper or air inlets too soon and too much, and by improperly using the stovepipe damper to restrict air movement.
  • Burning unseasoned firewood: Because so much energy is used initially just to drive off the water trapped in the cells of the logs, burning green wood keeps the resulting smoke cooler as it moves through the system than if dried, seasoned wood is used.
  • Cool flue temperatures: In the case of wood stoves, fully-packed loads of wood (that give large cool fires and eight- or 10-hour burn times) contribute to creosote buildup. Condensation of the unburned by-products of combustion also occurs more rapidly in an exterior chimney, for example, than in a chimney that runs through the center of a house and exposes only the upper reaches of the flue to the elements.

How Chimney Fires Damage Chimneys

  • Masonry chimneys. When chimney fires occur in masonry chimneys - whether the flues are an older, unlined type or are tile lined to meet current safety codes - the high temperatures at which they burn (around 2000°F) can "melt" mortar, crack tiles, cause liners to collapse and damage the outer masonry material. Most often, tiles crack and mortar is displaced, which provides a pathway for flames to reach the combustible wood frame of the house. One chimney fire may not harm a home. A second can burn it down. Enough heat can also conduct through a perfectly sound chimney to ignite nearby combustibles.
  • Pre-fabricated, factory-built, metal chimneys. To be installed in most jurisdictions in the United States, factory-built, metal chimneys that are designed to vent wood burning stoves or pre- fabricated metal fireplaces must pass special tests determined by Underwriter's Laboratories (U.L.). Under chimney fire conditions, damage to these systems still may occur, usually in the form of buckled or warped seams and joints on the inner liner. When pre-fabricated, factory-built metal chimneys are damaged by a chimney fire, they should no longer be used and must be replaced.

Ways to Keep the Fire You Want... from Starting One You Don't Want!

Chimney fires don't have to happen. Here are some ways to avoid them:

  • Use seasoned woods only (dryness is more important than hard wood versus soft wood considerations)
  • Build smaller, hotter fires that burn more completely and produce less smoke
  • Never burn cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, trash or Christmas trees-these can spark a chimney fire
  • Install stovepipe thermometers to help monitor flue temperatures where wood stoves are in use, so you can adjust burning practices as needed
  • Have the chimney inspected and cleaned on a regular basis

Proper Maintenance

Clean chimneys don't catch fire. Make sure a certified chimney sweep inspects your solid fuel venting system annually, and cleans and repairs it whenever needed.

Your sweep may have other maintenance recommendations depending on how you use your fireplace or stove.

CSIA recommends that you call on certified chimney sweeps, since they are regularly tested on their understanding of the complexities of chimney and venting systems.

Signs that You've Had a Chimney Fire

Since chimney fires can occur without anyone being aware of them-and since damage from such fires can endanger a home and its occupants-how do you tell if you've experienced a chimney fire?

Here are the signs a professional chimney sweep looks for:

  • "puffy" creosote, with rainbow colored streaks, that has expanded beyond creosote's normal form
  • warped metal of the damper, metal smoke chamber, connector pipe or factory-built metal chimney
  • cracked or collapsed flue tiles, or tiles with large chunks missing
  • discolored and distorted rain cap
  • creosote flakes and pieces found on the roof or ground
  • roofing material damaged from hot creosote
  • cracks in exterior masonry
  • evidence of smoke escaping through mortar joints of masonry or tile liners

If you think a chimney fire has occurred, call a CSIA certified chimney sweep for a professional evaluation. If your suspicions are confirmed, a certified sweep will be able to make recommendations about how to bring the system back into compliance with safety standards. Depending on the situation, you might need a few flue tiles replaced, a relining system installed or an entire chimney rebuilt. Each situation is unique and will dictate its own solution.

What to Do if You Have a Chimney Fire

If you realize a chimney fire is occurring, follow these steps:

1. Get everyone out of the house, including yourself

2. Call the fire department

If you can do so without risk to yourself, these additional steps may help save your home. Remember, however, that homes are replaceable but lives are not:

  • Put a flare-type chimney fire extinguisher into the fireplace or wood stove
  • Close the glass doors on the fireplace
  • Close the air inlets on the wood stove
  • Use a garden hose to spray down the roof (not the chimney) so the fire won't spread to the rest of the structure

Monitor the exterior chimney temperature throughout the house for at least 2 or 3 hours after the fire is out

Fire Extinguishers

Used properly, a portable fire extinguisher can save lives and property by putting out a small fire or containing it until the fire department arrives.

Extinguishers Have Limits

  • The operator must know how to use the extinguisher. There is no time to read directions during an emergency.
  • The extinguisher must be within easy reach and in working order, fully charged.
  • The extinguisher must be kept near the exit, so the user has an escape route that will not be blocked by fire.
  • The extinguisher must match the type of fire you are fighting. Extinguishers that contain water are unsuitable for use on grease or electrical fires.
  • The extinguisher must be large enough to put out the fire. Most portable extinguishers discharge completely in as few as eight seconds.
 Fire Extinguisher

Choosing Your Extinguisher

Fire extinguishers are tested by independent testing laboratories. They are labeled for the type of fire they are intended to extinguish.

There are three basic classes of fires. All fire extinguishers are labeled using standard symbols for the classes of fires they can put out. A red slash through any of the symbols tells you the extinguisher cannot be used on that class of fire. A missing symbol tells you only that the extinguisher has not been tested for a given class of fire.

  • Class A: Ordinary combustibles such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber, and many plastics.
 Class A
  • Class B: Flammable liquids such as gasoline, oil, grease, tar, oil-based paint, lacquer, and flammable gas.
 Class B
  • Class C: Energized electrical equipment including wiring, fuse boxes, circuit breakers, machinery, and appliances.
 Class C

Many household fire extinguishers are "multipurpose" A-B-C models, labeled for use on all three classes of fire. If you are ever faced with a Class A fire and don't have an extinguisher with an "A" symbol, don't hesitate to use one with the "B-C" symbol.

Warning: It is very dangerous to use water or an extinguisher labeled only for Class A fires on a grease or electrical fire. The "C" in a rating indicates that you can use the unit on electrical fires.

Extinguisher Sizes: Portable extinguishers are also rated for the size of fire they can handle. Normally, an extinguisher that has a rating of 2-A:10-B:C on its label is recommended for each floor level. The larger the number, the larger the fire that the extinguisher can put out. Higher-rated models are often heavier. Make sure you can hold and operate the extinguisher before you buy.

Installation/Maintenance

Extinguishers should be installed in plain view, above the reach of small children, near an escape route and away from stoves and heating appliances. Ask you local fire department for advice on the best locations.

Extinguishers require routine care. Read your operator's manual and ask your dealer how your extinguisher should be inspected and serviced. Rechargeable models must be serviced after every use. Disposable fire extinguishers can be used only once, and must be replaced after use. Following manufacturer's instructions, check the pressure in your extinguishers once a month.

Remember the PASS-word

PULL the pin: This unlocks the operating lever and allows you to discharge the extinguisher. Some extinguishers may have other seals or tamper indicators. Pull
AIM low: Point the extinguisher nozzle (or hose) at the base of the fire. Aim
SQUEEZE the lever above the handle: This discharges the extinguishing agent. Releasing the lever will stop the discharge. (Some extinguishers have a button instead of a lever.) Squeeze
SWEEP from side to side: Moving carefully toward the fire, keep the extinguisher aimed at the base of the fire and sweep back and forth until the flames appear to be out. Watch the fire area. If the fire re-ignites, repeat the process. Sweep

Always be sure the fire department inspects the fire site, even if you think you've extinguished the fire.