Successful fire drill held at apartment building on Huron Terrace, Kincardine

By: Liz Dadson October 16, 2017 1803

Successful fire drill held at apartment building on Huron Terrace, Kincardine

Residents of the apartment building on Huron Terrace, Kincardine, huddled under umbrellas, Wednesday afternoon, as they braved the heavy rain to take part in a fire drill, organized by Kincardine Fire and Emergency Services for Fire Prevention Week.

Fire chief Kent Padfield said the exercise was a success as it showed the importance of knowing how to exit the building safely and where to gather so those in charge of resident safety could ensure everyone was out.

Ginette Kirkconnell, manager of the building, and Heather McGinnis who lives there, organized the participation by the residents.

"The fire drill is very important," said Kirkconnell. "This is a state-of-the-art building with sprinklers and so on, but the residents still have to be aware of how to properly exit the building and where they are to go in order to be safe."

There are 31 apartments in the building, she said, and most are occupied by retirees and the elderly.

"This is a tight-knit community," said Kirkconnell. "They are used to relying on their neighbours. We have a list of the residents and we know who needs help to get out, and who has pets."

The firefighters arrived with the aerial fire truck which would be used to battle a blaze if it were on the upper floor of the building. Firefighters went into the building and were told the blaze was on the fourth floor; they proceeded there and extinguished it.

Padfield was in charge of the operation, with fire prevention officer Shane Watson who set up the fire drill.

"A big part of what we do is practise scenarios like this," said Padfield. "It also helps that we were able to look through this apartment building while it was being built. We know the safety features it has, including the sprinklers."

Watson said the apartment building fire safety plan includes one resident who would have to be rescued from his room during a fire.

After the fire drill, the residents and firefighters gathered in the social room where Best Friends Bakery served refreshments.

Padfield thanked everyone for participating and noted only one concern: keeping doors closed.

"If the fire is in one apartment, the fire walls should be able to contain it there for at least 45 minutes," he said, "but the doors have to be closed, including the ones to the stairwells, because we don't want the fire to spread."

He added that residents should double-check that their patio doors are closed as well.

"There are three things a fire needs: oxygen, heat and fuel," said Padfield. "This was a good exercise and my thanks to Shane (Watson) for setting it up."