Attending 90 incidents per years per operational staff, which is about 2 – 2.5 times more than any other fire departments in the country. Vancouver Fire Department attended 66,837 emergency calls in 2017. Most of these calls were accounted for medical related calls.

Vancouverites need more fire protection than ever. The city is growing so fast. When you look at the city from above, we see so many cranes working all over the city. Vancouver Fire and Rescue has been experiencing 10% increase in call volume since 2014. New construction techniques make the situation worse. According to Captain Jonathan Gormick at Vancouver Fire and Rescue; materials used in new constructions burn faster and hotter. We used to have around 10 minutes to escape from a fire in a residential home; now we have only 3 minutes to save our lives. We have to increase focus on fire protection to mitigate and prevent deadly fire incidents.

Fire does not only kills, but it also destroys property. We can prevent this happening by installing proper fire protection systems. Continuous maintenance of these systems is also essential. Most fire protection and life safety systems are required to be inspected at least once a year. According to NFPA and B.C. Fire Code, the following fire protection systems should be thoroughly inspected in Vancouver once a year.

• Fire Alarm Systems
• Fire Sprinkler Systems and Standpipes
• Fire Extinguishers
• Emergency Lighting Systems
• Fire Pumps
• Fire Hoses
• Fire Hydrants

Kitchen fire suppression systems should be inspected semi-annually. Maintenance of these fire safety systems will certainly mitigate or even stop fire-related loses and damages.
Please contact us for more details.

Sources: NFPA, B.C. Fire Code, vancurier.com