TORONTO - Ontario's new fire marshal is cracking down on those who fail to maintain their smoke detectors with a public awareness campaign aimed at providing solutions to nuisance smoke alarms.
Pat Burke announced the launch of www.makeitstop.ca Thursday in the hopes of increasing the number of homes with working smoke detectors.
Burke says while a smoke detector was present in 79 per cent of homes where a fire took place between 1995 and 2004, smoke alarms activated in fewer than half of the blazes.
He believes many people disconnect their alarm when it goes off due to burning toast or a steamy shower, and then they forget to reconnect it.
The new website offers safe solutions to nuisance alarms, such as buying ones with a hush feature or relocating them a little farther from the kitchen.
Having a working smoke alarm on every floor is the law in Ontario, and those who don't have one can face a $235 ticket or a $50,000 fine.
"Having a smoke alarm without a battery is like having no smoke alarm at all," Burke said. "Unfortunately, this is what too may people do to stop nuisance smoke alarms."
"By disabling a smoke alarm, people leave themselves and their families vulnerable and at risk in a real fire emergency."
Toronto fire Chief Bill Stewart says there were 83 fires in the city last year in which smoke detectors were deactivated, and that five people and four firefighters were injured in those incidents.
