B.C. fire commissioner sees ‘concerning increase’ in fire-related deaths

B.C.’s fire commissioner says the pandemic has led to a substantial increase in fire-related injuries and deaths, mostly in homes.

According to Commissioner Brian Godlonton, the increase can be attributed to people being at home more than usual. He adds many did not have working smoke detectors.

Now, they are working to change that.

A Community Fire Risk Reduction Dashboard is set to be rolled out by Statistics Canada in July as a pilot project in Coquitlam, Surrey, and Port Alberni. It will be rolled out by early 2023 for the rest of B.C.

Godlonton says working with Statistics Canada to develop a real time dashboard will help keep track of at-risk communities and ensure fire prevention and safety measures are in place and properly working.

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Fire data will be mapped on the dashboard with associated risk factors, community fire rates, deaths, injuries, and smoke alarm function at the time of a fire. This data will be made available to community fire services throughout the province to focus on specific areas of fire prevention.

Between 2019 and 2021, fire-related deaths in B.C. rose from 27 to 56 — a 107 per cent increase. In 2021, there were 59 more fire-related deaths, which was a five per cent increase from the previous year. Over the last two reporting years, there has been a 119 per cent increase in fire-related deaths.

This, he says, will enable communities to target the areas at higher risk and work with health authorities to have home-care workers check smoke detectors.

Godlonton says as the death toll “skyrocketed,” people over 65-years-old over-represented fatalities. With seniors most impacted by fire-related deaths, he says offering them help checking smoke detectors could prevent injuries and fatalities.

According to the commissioner, working smoke alarms could reduce the risk of fire deaths by 50 per cent.

Aside from B.C., Godlonton says there has unfortunately been a similar increase across Canada.