CFSA's Vulnerable Occupancies Workshop More Timely Than Ever
Kim Bailey, a fire protection engineer with the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management, is the instructor for the Feb. 6 workshop, which is focused on fire safety planning for retirement homes and care facilities.
Canadian authorities confirmed Jan. 25 that the death toll had risen to 10 in the fire that destroyed part of the La Résidence du Havre retirement home in L'Isle-Verten, Quebec, with 22 people still unaccounted for and the search hampered by bitter cold and snow.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Steven Blaney, Canada's minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, both issued statements offering condolences to the victims' families and thanking firefighters and first responders who fought the fire and treated victims. "I have every confidence in the ability of the authorities to determine how this tragedy occurred and to take the necessary steps to prevent it from occurring again," Harper said in a Jan. 23 statement.
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews told The Globe and Mail on Jan. 24 that Ontario may accelerate the required phase-in of its sprinkler systems in nursing and retirement homes built before 1998; currently they have as much as nine years to complete the retrofits. The incident also makes a Feb. 6 workshop at the Delta Markham Hotel hosted by the Canadian Fire Safety Association (CFSA) particularly timely. The Vulnerable Occupancies Workshop is focused on fire safety planning and minimum staffing levels for retirement homes and care facilities as specified in the Fire Code.
The instructor is Kim Bailey, a fire protection engineer with the Ontario Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management. He has worked for more than 24 years in the Fire Safety Standards Section, which administers the Ontario Fire Code, according to CFSA, which is a non-profit organization that promotes fire safety through seminars, safety training courses, scholarships, and meetings.