STATEMENT FROM CHIEF RALPH DOMINELLI, ORILLIA FIRE DEPARTMENT

Retirement home owners plead guilty to Fire Protection and Prevention Act charges

ORILLIA, ON, Oct 1 /CNW/ - In January 2009, a fire at the Muskoka Heights Retirement Home resulted in the needless death of four seniors and the critical injury of six others.  On behalf of the City of Orillia Fire Department, we are pleased that the retirement home corporation and the retirement home administrator have been convicted of violating the Fire Protection and Prevention Act. 

This is the first time in Ontario that the administrator of a care occupancy has been convicted under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act. 

The retirement home corporation and the retirement home administrator have pleaded guilty to "fail to ensure supervisory staff be instructed in the fire emergency procedures" and "fail to implement the fire safety plan provisions for conducting fire drills for supervisory staff".  The total fines for the corporation are $62,500 including the Victim Fine Surcharge and the total fines for the administrator are $18,750 including the Victim Fine Surcharge.

This tragic case highlights the need for changes to the Fire Protection and Prevention Act that would require automatic sprinklers in care occupancies.   Since 1980, 44 deaths and countless injuries have occurred in care occupancies.  In Ontario, there has been four serious fires in care occupancies since 2008 - Huntsville, Niagara Falls, Orillia and Owen Sound.  Three separate Coroner's Inquests in 1980, 1995 and 1997 have all recommended the full retroactive installation of automatic sprinklers in all existing care occupancies. 

The benefits of sprinklers are indisputable: a combination of smoke alarms and automatic fire sprinklers can cut the risk of dying in a fire by 82%.  In any fire, every second matters. But in a care facility, time is even more precious: residents may be slower to respond and more difficult to escort out of the facility. In addition, the latest studies demonstrate that with modern synthetic furniture, flash over can occur with a room in less than four minutes.   Automatic sprinklers buy critical time for the both the staff and fire fighters to save lives and property. 

Our condolences are with the family and friends of those who perished in the fire.  It is our hope that the government will look to these convictions, and realize that automatic sprinklers in care occupancies would save lives. 

For further information:

Ralph Dominelli
Fire Chief/CEMC
City of Orillia Fire Department
705-325-5201
[email protected]