Hub Staff

Union Gas has partnered with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council, providing Ontario fire departments with combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms as part of Project Zero, and Monday they were in Saugeen Shores.

“It’s a 10 year alarm,” said Saugeen Shores Fire Chief, Phil Eagleson. “The idea behind the 10 year battery is that you don’t have to remember to replace it. It’s going to last you for the life of the alarm and then you throw the alarm and the battery out together and you get a new one for another 10 years.”

Project Zero is a public education campaign with the goal of reducing the number of residential fire and carbon monoxide-related deaths to zero.

Jeremy Miller, Union Gas Utility Services Manager, presented Saugeen Shores Fire Chief, Phil Eagleson, Saugeen Shores Fire Prevention Officer, Rob Atkinson and Councillor, John Rich, with the alarms.

“At Union Gas, the safety of our employees and our communities is our most important core company value,” said Miller. “And we share that commitment by supporting much-needed programs like Project Zero that helps us all stay safer.”

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless, tasteless toxic gas, exposure to which can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, burning eyes, confusion, drowsiness, loss of consciousness; and in extreme cases brain damage and death. Over 80 percent of CO related deaths and injuries in Ontario occur at home and children and the elderly as well as those with respiratory or heart conditions may be among the most sensitive.

In October 2014, the Ontario Fire Code was amended to ensure every home and residential building with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage has a working CO alarm and compliance was required for single- and multi-unit residential buildings by October, 2015. In homes, CO detectors are required near all sleeping areas; and in multi-unit buildings, alarms are required in service rooms as well as adjacent sleeping areas. They can be hardwired, battery-operated or plugged into the wall. A properly installed combination smoke and CO alarm helps provide early warning from fire or CO exposure.

“I would like to thank Union Gas and the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council for their generous donation of the combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. These units will go to support our ongoing, very aggressive campaign in areas of our municipality that are higher risk,” said Eagleson. “The Fire Prevention Officer and volunteer firefighters have gone door-to-door in our many campgrounds and trailer parks to ensure that seasonal residences are compliant with the new regulations. These areas are at high risk because of their close proximity to each other and also because vacation residence testing and maintenance of alarms is often forgotten.”