Fire safety gets big boost

Experts sounded the alarm on fire safety at the Kahnawake Fire Brigade (KFB) on Wednesday, kicking off a campaign that will reach at least 16 Indigenous communities, ahead of a giveaway of hundreds of smoke alarms in town.

“Kahnawake by far is probably the tip of the sword when it comes to fire protection,” said KFB fire chief Wihse Stacey. “Communities look up to us. It’s not unusual to get calls from Cree communities, from communities out west. Generally, we tend to lead the way. Having Kidde on board when it comes to fire safety, it’s huge.”

Kidde, a century-old brand specializing in fire safety projects, has teamed up with the likes of the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council and Firefighters Without Borders for its Cause for Alarm campaign, which will see 6,000 fire alarms donated to First Nations.

“We can’t underscore how important this initiative is for this community and to all First Nations communities who struggle to maintain fire departments across the country,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake chief David Diabo, who attended to show Council’s support for the initiative.

He implored Kahnawa’kehró:non to sign up to receive a smoke detector, which will be distributed by the fire brigade pending an announcement on how they will be given out.

“It’s so important because fire safety is all about being prepared, and everyone’s at risk for fires in their homes, but some communities have higher rates of house fires,” said Ivanette Bonilla, chief communications and government relations officer for Kidde, who noted Indigenous communities suffer around 20 percent of fire-related deaths despite making up about five percent of the country’s population.

“It’s critically important that we reach these communities, not only with the alarms, but also with the education on how to keep the alarm,” she said, noting the importance of testing it monthly, changing it every 10 years, and of households having an evacuation plan, which is crucial when seconds count.

The alarms provided by Kidde have 25 percent faster detection, Bonilla said, and are designed to avoid nuisance alarms that often prompt people to disable the devices.

“If you’re cooking a hamburger at home, it won’t trigger the alarm,” Bonilla said.

A total of 504 alarms were donated to Kahnawake.

Stacey presented the donation as an opportunity for community members to ensure early fire detection without having to dig into their own pockets.

“As a fire inspector, it’s hard for me to go into these houses and tell them what to do, to tell them they have to spend money on fire safety,” said Stacey. “How do I justify them spending money? They might be struggling to put food on the table but here I am walking in saying you have to buy this, you have to buy that.”

The donation changes that equation, which is crucial considering the role the devices can play in the security of the community.

“Early detection saves lives, plain and simple,” he said, noting that anyone who has seen a video of a house fire on YouTube will know how fast fires can consume homes.

Like Bonilla, Stacey urged community members to ensure their smoke alarms are functioning, with the fire brigade often seeing alarms installed that should have been out of commission long ago.

“That’s actually one of the biggest problems that we face,” he said.

“If I walk into a house, there’s a good chance I’m going to find one that could be 20 or even 30 years old. They have that funny yellow colour that looks like somebody’s been smoking in there for years, and it’s obvious to me without even having to look at it that it’s long since expired, and that’s the problem.”

The last time the fire brigade distributed smoke detectors, there was a line up down the road before the giveaway even opened, he said, showing the level of interest and need in the community.

Kahnawake elder Otsitsaken:ra Charlie Patton opened the event at the fire brigade, during which he recalled the Kahnawake of his childhood.

“I remember they had an old pumper truck that maybe started one day and didn’t start the next day, and maybe it only ran because people pushed it up a hill,” he said.

Oftentimes, he said, wells would go dry before a fire had been extinguished, and despite community members coming together, homes would be lost.

“Now look at where we are, the beautiful equipment that we have,” he said. “This didn’t just happen because somebody flicked a switch. It happened because people had foresight, people had a dream, people did the legwork and rolled up their sleeves and found ways to make the community better.”

This is the context in which he put the smoke alarm donation.

“I’m sure it will save a lot of lives,” he said.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter