CO (Carbon Monoxide)Safety Tips 
Safe Portable Generator Operation 
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Campfire Regulations FAQ's
Changes to the BC Fire Code require that every private home and hotel or motel room built
before 1979 must have smoke alarms installed by May 1, 2010. Owners of these older buildings
can install battery-operated smoke alarms, rather than connecting smoke alarms to the buildings’
electrical system.
Battery-operated smoke alarms are an affordable way to improve safety.
Every year, approximately 2,600 North Americans die in home fires.
Over half of these deaths (52%) occur between the hours
of 10:00pm and 7:00am, when residents are typically sleeping.
Smoke and toxic gases from a home fire are as deadly as
heat and flames.
Just two or three breaths of toxic smoke can render you unconscious.
In addition, smoke obscures vision, decreasing your ability to escape.
Smoke alarms save lives, prevent injuries, and minimize property damage
by detecting fires early and alerting residents, allowing crucial time to escape.
The risk of dying from a fire in a home without working
smoke alarms is twice as high as in a home with working smoke alarms.
Quide to placement of Smoke Alarms
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The Hemlock Fire Department is now participating in the call2recycle program
If you have any old cell phones, regular batteries, recylable batteries, old smoke alarms
or old CO2 alarms they can be dropped off at the fire hall and they will be recycled properly.
All types of batteries are now being accepted not just the rechargable type.
Place them in a clear plastic bag and leave them by the front entrance
door in the breezeway at the fire hall.
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Please used caution when operating a motorized vehicle offroad
in the Hemlock Valley area.
This notice applies to all forested areas
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These recommendations are for a primary residence, seaonal residences should be done at least once per year.
If large quantities of creosote and soot are found when cleaning, increase the number of cleanings per year.
SOLID FUEL APPLIANCES:
Once per year for smokeless fuel and twice per year for coal
WOOD BURNING APPLIANCES:
Quarterly when in use
GAS APPLIANCES:
Once per year if designed for sweeping
OIL FIRED APPLIANCES:
Once per year
It is not sufficient to clean a chimney using a vacuum cleaner alone.
Ensure your chimney flue is inspected at regular intervals to prevent fire breaking out of the chimney.
Sparkguards can prevent a serious property fire.
If you haven't already done so, FIT A SMOKE ALARM - it could SAVE YOUR LIFE !
In the event of a chimney fire occurring Dial 9 1 1, clearly give your address and the problem and exit the building.
NOTE: It is best to evacuate the building and call from a neighbours.
If you have a conventional open fire, extinguish the fire by gently splashing water onto the fire, don't dump a large quantity of water on the fire, the idea is to create steam that will flow up the chimney and reduce the temperature. Dumping a pot of water on the fire will just put out the fire and not create the steam required. Good idea to wear oven mitts when performing this function to protect your hands and wrists from steam burns. Eye protection is a must.
If you have a solid fuel appliance, close down the ventilation as much as possible. Closing down the ventilation cuts off the oxygen required for the fire in the chimney to burn.
Move furniture & rugs away from the fireplace and remove any nearby ornaments. Blow back is alway a possibility.
Place a sparkguard in front of the fire. Stops material from the fire box blowing out into the room in the event of a blow back.
Feel the chimney breast in other rooms for signs of heat. (The Fire Department will do this).
If a wall is becoming hot, move furniture away. If you experience this before the Fire Department arrives let the first firefighter you see know about it and the location.
Ensure that access to your attic or roof space is available for the Fire Service as they will want to thoroughly check this area for signs of possible fire spread. Chimney fires can spread to the rest of your property. Many of the chimney fires are close to the top of the chimney so the mortor and bricks or the steel chimney joints may be compromised in the attic areas.
REMEMBER ALWAYS call the Fire Department first if you have a chimney fire.
Calling a friend, neighbour or relative first delays the response time of the Fire Department and those may be the critical moments that save the structure.
9-1-1 is the fastest way to get the Fire Department there. We would rather you called and we find nothing than you called late and all we can save is the foundations.
For Your Own Safety Have it Swept
Obvious signs of a chimney fire
Other signs may be large amounts of sparks exiting the chimney or an almost invisible blue flame much like a propane torch
Fire Chief Marty McKinney
Hemlock Valley Fire Department
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