Public Education

These are designed to offer residents the opportunity to meet with local firefighters and learn about fire prevention and safety. To book, please complete our request form and submit to [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation message if your request is approved. 

Please note: 

• tours are not intended to be scheduled for birthday parties or special occasions
• tours could be cancelled or delayed last minute if crews are called out to an incident

Our Public Education Officer offers 30 minute, in-person fire safety lessons to elementary and high schools in Burnaby. To book, please complete our request form and submit to [email protected]. 

For additional information, please review our Public Education Activity Manual for elementary schools. 

Additional resources:

• Education zone
• Kids zone
• People with disabilities
• Older adults

Cooking brings family and friends together, provides an outlet for creativity and can be relaxing. But did you know that cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries?

Follow these safety tips to prevent cooking-related fires

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), heating is the second leading cause of home fires and injuries and the third leading cause of home fire deaths. These fires result in civilian deaths and injuries, including billions in direct property damage.

Follow these tips to stay safe

Electricity helps make our lives easier, but we often take its potential to cause fire-related hazards for granted.

Learn more about how to stay safe from electrical fires

Checklist for electrical safety

Smokers need to know the steps they can take to keep themselves and their families safe from fire.

Candles may be pretty to look at, but they can cause home fires and deaths. Remember–a candle is an open flame, which means it can easily ignite anything that can burn.

Check out these safety tips

There are several different types of smoke alarms available. Some run on batteries and some connect to your household electricity. Some detect smoke using an ionization sensor, while others use a photoelectric detection system. Whatever type of smoke alarm you buy, ensure it is certified by an independent testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC).

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires a smoke alarm outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. On floors without bedrooms, you must install alarms in or near living areas such as dining rooms, furnace rooms, utility rooms, hallways, dens, living rooms or family rooms.

Ensure everyone sleeping in your home can hear your smoke alarms' alert even with bedroom doors closed. If not, or if any residents are hard of hearing, install additional alarms inside bedrooms. Smoke alarms that flash strobe light, in addition to sounding an audible alert, are available for the hearing impaired.

Smoke alarms are not recommended for kitchens, bathrooms, or garages where cooking fumes, steam or exhaust could set off false alerts or for attics and other unheated spaces where humidity and temperature changes might affect an alarm's operation.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is often called the silent killer. It's an invisible, odourless, colourless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil and methane) burn incompletely. Heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel and wood-burning fireplaces and stoves are potential CO sources. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of CO.

There are 3 types of CO alarms: battery-operated, plugin and hardwired into your household's current. Whatever kind of CO alarm you buy, ensure it is certified by an independent testing laboratory, like ULC. Install CO alarms in central locations outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home.

If the alarm sounds, immediately move to a location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call 9-1-1 and stay outdoors until emergency personnel arrive.

CO poisoning can be confused with flu symptoms (without the fever), food poisoning and other illnesses. Symptoms may include:

• headache
• fatigue
• shortness of breath
• nausea
• dizziness

High-level CO poisoning results in progressively more severe symptoms, including:

• mental confusion
• vomiting
• loss of muscular coordination
• loss of consciousness
• death

• Visit each room and find 2 ways out.
• Draw a map of your home showing all the ways to exit the house. Ensure every family member understands it.
• Choose an outside meeting place like a neighbour's house or a stop sign a safe distance from your home where everyone can meet once they've evacuated.
• Make sure your smoke alarms are working by testing them every month.
• Ensure that your address can be seen from the street.
• Double-check that all windows and doors can be opened easily.
• Always keep a phone by your bed if you can't escape and need to call for help.

Everyone in your home should be able to clearly understand how to escape in the event of a fire.

• Children: teach them how to escape on their own if you can't help them.
• Family members with disabilities: ensure you install smoke alarms with strobe lights or bed shakers if you have family members who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Practice your escape plan–that's the best way to ensure everyone is prepared and can evacuate confidently in the event of a fire.

When teaching people, ask them to memorize the acronym 'PASS', which stands for:

• Pull the pin: hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you and release the locking mechanism.
• Aim low: point the extinguisher at the base of the fire.
• Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly.
• Sweep the nozzle from side to side.

• Easy access in an emergency: ensure nothing is blocking or limiting your ability to reach it.
• Recommended pressure level: many extinguishers have gauges that show when pressure is too high or too low.
• Working parts: ensure the can, hoses and nozzles aren't damaged, dented or rusted.
• Cleanliness: remove any dust, oil, or grease that might be on the outside of the extinguisher.
• Guidelines and instructions: some extinguishers need to be shaken monthly. Others need to be pressure-tested every few years.

For use with ordinary materials like cloth, wood and paper. Often found in homes and businesses.

For use with combustible and flammable liquids like grease, gasoline, oil and oil-based paints. Often found in homes and businesses.

For use with electrical equipment like appliances, tools, or other equipment that's plugged in. Often found in homes and businesses.

For use with flammable metals. Often found in factories.

For use with vegetable oils, animal oils and fats in cooking appliances. Often found in commercial kitchens.

• Turn pot handles in so they cannot be easily bumped.
• When drinking hot liquids, place down in a safe place away from counter edges.
• Use a cup with a lid to prevent spilling.
• Use caution removing lids from pots or coverings from the microwave as steam can burn.

• Ensure there are no tripping hazards in the home by smoothing out carpet and addressing uneven flooring.
• Apply non slip strips to the bath tub and shower floor.
• Ensure railings inside and outside of the home are secure.
• Tidy clutter so entries and exits are easily accessible.
• Take your time while rising from sitting to standing to gain balance.
• Stay active daily to decrease the risk of slips and falls.

• Call your pharmacist to refill your prescription to avoid non-essential trips to the pharmacy.
• Call family if you need help with groceries or order from your local grocery store for pick up or delivery.
• Phone a friend or neighbor to talk if you are feeling lonely. 

Lifelines are a great tool to have if you are:

• recovering from a recent hospitalization
• at risk of falling
• live alone
• require assistance for daily activities or use a cane, walker or wheelchair
• dependent on a caregiver
• manage multiple medications or health conditions