VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver has tightened its fire bylaw in an effort to keep residents safe from threats ranging from carbon monoxide to grass fires.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Capt. Jonathan Gormick says Vancouver is now the third jurisdiction in Canada to make carbon monoxide alarms mandatory in all residential buildings, including single-family homes.
The alarms can be hard-wired, electrical or battery operated, and Gormick says the only exceptions are homes without an attached garage or homes that don't have fuel-fired appliances, such as a gas stove or water heater.
New fines have also been imposed in hopes of curbing behaviours that Gormick says have recently led to fires, fire damage, and unnecessary use of city resources.
Penalties include a $750 per-day fine for owners who do not properly secure unoccupied buildings, and $500 fines for any malicious and false report of a fire or activation of a fire alarm.
Gormick says brush fires have also been a problem and smokers could be fined up to $500 for throwing away burning cigarette butts or other material.
"Previously, I believe that the only recourse we had against people who discarded smoking material improperly was a littering fine and, maybe not last year, but in 2015 we had an astronomical increase in the number of vegetation and brush fires because we had a very dry summer here," he says.
Smoking materials create a major hazard when improperly discarded and the new fine specifically targets smokers who refuse to use the proper receptacles, Gormick says.
