Retirement Home Fire Safety Incident Report
A retirement home regulated under the Retirement Home Act, 2010 experienced a fire safety incident involving smoke alarms and evacuation procedures. The fire safety plan, approved in 2012, is under review. During a fire drill in 2014, a tenant failed to notify staff, resulting in a delayed response. Staff members faced challenges, including locked elevators and delayed evacuations. The owner was advised of the drill failure and corrective actions were outlined, with a second fire drill scheduled. Welland Fire & Emergency Services were involved in addressing the incident.
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Retirement Home Regulated under the Retirement Home Act, 2010
Fire Safety Plan was approved December 4, 2012 Is presently under review
Original fire drill held on December 19, 2014 Activated smoke alarm in suite 218 Smoke alarms in suites not connected to building fire alarm system
Tenant in suite 218 did not use call bell to notify staff Staff nursing centre is located on main floor They did not hear smoke alarm on 2ndfloor 5 minutes elapsed, no staff member heard alarm, tenant did not self evacuate FPO advised nursing staff fire to attend suite 218 One staff member attended Staff member then instructed to pull a fire alarm pull station to activate the building fire alarm system
2ndstaff member attended front entrance, annunciator panel to locate alarm area 2ndstaff member locked out elevator to ground floor 2ndstaff member then proceeded to 2ndfloor to assist with evacuation Evacuation time of 2ndfloor took 12 minutes, 52 seconds To the stairwells 30 min zone
Owner was advised fire alarm drill failed Time allotted for evacuation of room of origin, was exceeded Staff did not activate fire alarm pull station which would notify monitoring company Owner required to train staff and tenants on fire procedures A second fire drill is scheduled for April 23, 2015
Welland Fire & Emergency Services notified OFMEM office of failure and asked for assistance with witnessing next drill Program Specialist, Inspection & Enforcement Unit, OFMEM, Janny Pape attended
Smoke alarm activated in suite 313 Staff did not hear smoke alarm-5 minutes elapsed FPO activated hallway smoke detector on 3rd floor outside room of origin Staff attended annunciator panel to locate alarm area & locked out elevator Staff evacuated floor area (zone) within the time allowed FAILED FIRE EVACUATION DRILL
Immediate Threat to Life Order issued for the following reasons: Staff could not guarantee residents do not smoke in their suites 2 staff members during the evening hours could not guarantee they will hear smoke alarm activations Immediate Threat to Life Order issued implementing a fire watch of all floor levels once every hour Inspection Orders issued
Order #1, Inspection date of April 23, 2015 As a result of the fire drill, it was noted there was insufficient supervisory staff available to carry out the duties as required in the approved fire safety plan During the fire drill observations, supervisory staff failed to: a) respond to the room of fire origin, remove occupant(s) from the room and close the room door within the time
It is ordered that there shall be sufficient supervisory staff available in care occupancies and retirement homes to carry out the duties required in the fire safety plan Also a fire watch must be implemented in the occupancy until such time as a fire drill be successfully completed We used the term Immediate
It is ordered that there shall be sufficient supervisory staff available in care occupancies and retirement homes to carry out the duties required in the fire safety plan Increase staffing level during the hours of 19:00hrs-07:00hrs Compliance due date 05-25-2015
Appendix B states: Activation of the smoke detection device, in the individual suites, shall notify nursing staff and the nursing station. This can be achieved by extending the existing fire alarm system to the individual suites or providing an alternative smoke detection system that notifies the nursing staff of activation in the individual suites Compliance date Aug 8, 2015 A building permit is required
The dry sprinkler system in the attic charged with water causing an alarm on May 11, 2015 Therefore the sprinkler water flow zone was shut down, the rest of the building was protected with the fire alarm system & wet sprinkler system
The order states: Notify Welland Fire & Emergency Services of scheduled work to the sprinkler system Implement a fire watch until sprinkler system is repaired Add an additional supervisory staff member until repairs are complete and system is operational Compliance date of May 12, 2015
Repair, replacement and alterations of sprinkler system components shall be in accordance with NFPA 13....(13R) Compliance date June 11, 2015
One of the tenants, while smoking in her suite, set the smoke alarm off in her suite. She then proceeded to the nearest pull station and activated the building fire alarm system It was also discovered that one tenant has been allowed to solder in his suite Clearly, more fire safety education for tenants is required
Fire Safety Plan under review FPO has set up training dates for staff. On a separate date FPO is conducting a training session for all tenants All training will take place on site Finally, FPO will hold a fire drill for the entire building Let s hope everyone gets it right
Build in 2012 ground floor B3 2-4 C Possible reclassification to B3for the entire building.
On behalf of the Niagara Chapter OMFPOA, and the OFMEM Thank you
