The Fire Department received funding in the amount of $9,183 to purchase six new training manikins.

“We are thankful to Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada and our local Firehouse Subs in Orillia for providing us with this generous funding,” said Mayor Don McIsaac. “Through Firehouse Sub’sPublic Safety Foundation’s support, our Fire Department has six new specialized rescue training manikins, allowing our Fire Fighters to participate in more realistic and diverse training exercises and further enhance our community’s safety.”

Two water rescue manikins, two fire rescue manikins and two auto-extrication manikins were purchased and will be used during simulation rescue training exercises. The manikins vary in body shape and weight to better represent real-life situations.

“With varying weights and body types, these state-of-the-art manikins provide invaluable realism, enabling our Fire Fighters to simulate real-life rescue scenarios,” said Orillia Fire Chief Michael Clark. “Thanks to the support of Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, our teams can enhance their training exercises to better prepare them for the diverse challenges they may face in the field.”

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada has awarded 332 grants to public safety organizations since 2015. This grant is one of 12 that the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada awarded to public safety organizations during the most recent grant cycle. The 332 grants will provide critical lifesaving and training equipment valued at more than $3.2 million across Ontario.

“The things you do as a business matter,” said Ravish Shah, local Firehouse Subs franchisee. “At Firehouse Subs Orillia, we are thankful for the opportunity to donate to community. If you can help one person, you have achieved something in your life, not just as a business, but as a member of the community.”

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Crews were called out to the fire at the back of an apartment building on Mississaga St. E near West St. N just after 6:30 p.m. They arrived moments later and stayed at the scene for an hour and a half. Clark said they believe the fire started after someone lit up a mattress that was sitting underneath a wooden staircase at the back of the building. 

Camera footage from the area was unusable, so the department concluded its investigation after conducting interviews. There is no official damage estimate at this time, but Chief Clark said he estimates the damage at about $1,000.

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Neighbours heard smoke alarms going off and called the fire department. Crews arrived to the Douglas Street home just after 12 p.m. and found smoke coming out of the home. When crews entered, they found fire and flames on the first floor.

There were no injuries reported. Damaged is estimated at $500,000. The residents have been displaced and are staying with family.

The fire department says the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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The Huntsville/Lake of Bays (HLOB) Fire Department and the Muskoka Lakes Fire Department applied for funding on behalf of all five fire departments in Muskoka. The two departments received $1,000 stipends, which will be used by all the local departments to increase public awareness of home sprinkler systems. Mike Vadlja, fire prevention officer with the HLOB Fire Department, said the HFSC is great because their support allows Muskoka fire departments to showcase home sprinkler systems and their value as a safety feature. Smoke alarms and escape plans are important, he said, but sprinkler systems keep residents much safer. 

“We call it the next generation of fire safety basically because the way homes burn nowadays and the time you have to get out, smoke alarms warn you of the fire, but sprinklers would allow you the time to get out and they would also limit the property damage,” Vadlja said.

The Orillia Fire Department and 12 other fire departments across Canada also received stipends of $500 each. The Muskoka fire departments plan to use their funding to create displays that showcase how a sprinkler system would be set up in a home, Vadlja said. The funding will also go toward live burn demonstrations happening this fall, which will likely happen over Facebook Live due to COVID restrictions.

For their burn demonstrations, the fire departments create two 10’ by 10’ cubicles and fill them with a bed, a dresser and other items to replicate a typical bedroom. One is equipped with a sprinkler system while the other is not to show the difference between a sprinklered home and a non-sprinklered home. 

During the demonstration, they light the wastebasket on fire to simulate real-life situations like a candle getting knocked over. The fire in the non-sprinklered unit typically reaches flashover in under two minutes, according to Vadlja, meaning everything in the cubicle has ignited. The occupants in a room like that could not survive the conditions, he said, but the sprinklered unit shows what a difference home sprinkler systems can make.

“The sprinkler goes off just after the smoke alarm goes off, so a minute, a minute and a half, and it controls the fire. The damage is limited,” Vadlja said. “[In] the couple of burns that I did, the wastepaper basket and a drape and maybe a little bit of bedding was damaged by fire, but the rest was just wet so it was salvageable, whereas the unit without the sprinklers was totally destroyed. Everything was gone.”

Another advantage of sprinklers is the prevention of toxic gas being released, which is often what leads to fire deaths.

“People don’t die from the flames, they die from the toxic fumes because of all the plastics and synthetic materials we have nowadays, that’s what kills people,” he said, adding that carbon monoxide is often the culprit. “In a sprinklered home, those gases are pretty much gone because the sprinkler is controlling that fire, and there’s none of those deadly gases that are being released.” 

For more information on home fire sprinklers, visit the HFSC website. Visit the HLOB Fire Department on Facebook for future burn demonstrations and other information on fire safety. 

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