2560 replies to this topic

[pontcanna]

Two maintenance workers injured after steam pipe burst at Victoria General Hospital

“A [four-to-six-inch] diameter steam pipe had ruptured outside the boiler room, so in the main hallway section on the first floor, so there was a worker working on the pipe and the pipe let go,” Hurst said. “This pipe was so big, when it let go like there was zero visibility in the hallways, there was that much steam. The temperatures were around 130 to 140 degrees, and zero visibility in that area from the steam so the steam is venting into the hallway.”

The two workers were transported to the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s burn unit.

The maintenance worker who was working on the steam pipe at the hospital has burns on about 50 per cent of his body, the other has burns on his face, neck and hands, according to Hurst.

While the hospital is still up and running, Hurst says the first floor has the diagnostic and treatment centres, and it was evacuated during the incident.

WorkSafeBC also attended the scene since workers were injured.

More: https://www.cheknews...spital-1128706/

 

[pontcanna]

Comox structure fire claims the lives of two people

The fire began in a home off Ryan Road East Jan. 6

 

 

Jan. 7, 2023       

A structure fire in a single-family home off Ryan Road East claimed the lives of two people Friday (Jan. 6) afternoon.

Comox Fire Rescue Chief Gord Schreiner said they received a call for the fire around 4:15 p.m. and two elderly people in the home did not survive.

He noted nearly every one of their trucks responded to the blaze in addition to 28 firefighters.

“Right now, (the fire) looks to be accidental and the damage is significant as the home was older,” he added.

More: https://www.comoxval...-of-two-people/

 

[pontcanna]

Cigarettes, portable heaters could be cause of fatal fire in Comox

Cigarettes or portable heaters could be the cause of a fatal house fire in Comox that claimed the life of two residents on Friday, according to the local fire department.

 

Next door neighbour tried to help but was beaten back by the flames

 

An elderly couple perished in the afternoon blaze at 1783 Ryan Rd. E, between Anderton Road and Military Row and across the street from Simply Amish Furniture Gallery, says Gord Schreiner, fire chief at Comox Fire Rescue.

While firefighters got the call around 4:15 p.m. and were on scene within minutes alongside police and paramedics, Schreiner says it was too late to save the two residents.

 

 

“Smoking habits could be an issue here,” he told CHEK News in an interview Monday, noting one victim was a smoker, and both had mobility issues.

Crews found the couple in a back sunroom, described as a contained and covered porch, which is where the fire originated and also where the residents “spent most days” sitting together, Schreiner says.

Fire alarms were activated in the main house, but not in the sunroom, leading investigators to believe it may have been “a situation where hearing might have been an issue,” the fire chief says.

 

More: https://www.cheknews...-chief-1131237/

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Cigarettes, portable heaters could be cause of fatal fire in Comox




Never pre-heat your cigarettes.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 January 2023 - 01:00 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Last week, An Wu attended a conference in Montreal and decided to stay an extra day to tour the city.

 

Wu rented an Airbnb unit in Old Montreal, and the last time her loved ones heard from her was on Wednesday night, according to her friend, Pantong Yao.

"We cannot find her," Yao told CBC News in a video call.

 

And Yao is not alone. Zafar Mahmood, speaking to CBC news from Pakistan, said his daughter, Dania Zafar, is missing as well.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ssing-1.6785253

 

 

 

That Montreal fire is troubling.

 

No oversight, nobody had registered it as an Air BnB, but didn't the landlord even have the decency to have simple smoke detectors installed?

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie Lacroix, 18, lived in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne, Que., and was staying in an Airbnb in the building with a friend after spending the day in the city.

 

Her father, Louis-Philippe Lacroix, said he's been told his daughter called 911 twice within several minutes, unable to get out of the unit they were staying in, which had no window and no fire escape.

 

"How can someone rent an apartment, whether it's for a day, or a year, or whatever with no way to exit?" he said in an interview earlier Sunday.

 

https://www.timescol...ontreal-6726606

 

 

 

 

 

^ That's even crazier.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kuzmina, who lives in Cornwall, Ont., said her husband was awakened Thursday shortly after 5:30 a.m. by a loud noise and noticed the glow of flames under the door.

 

The couple quickly gathered a few items — leaving most of the possessions behind — and escaped from the semi-basement unit they were staying in by breaking a window, she said in an interview Sunday.

 

As she left the building, she said she saw a man jumping out a window.

 

"There was no way out," she said. "The staircase was on fire."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandre Bergevin, a lawyer for the building's owner, Emile-Haim Benamor, said Sunday that Airbnbs in the building were not being operated by his client, but rather by tenants, adding that steps had been taken to stop the practice.

 

He said in a text message that the alarm system had been replaced in 2019 and was regularly tested.

 

The building's layout is complex, he wrote regarding the emergency exits. "It has always been deemed compliant in the past."

 

Ben Breit, the global head of trust and safety communications at Airbnb, said in a statement that the company is providing support to those affected and assisting the police investigation.

 

“Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy, and to their families and loved ones," he said in an email.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The building does not look all that troublesome.   But that girl that called 911 said there were no windows.  Yikes.

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 March 2023 - 07:29 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

One of the first things that struck Joseph Brockman about the Airbnb where he was staying in Montreal were the windows — there were, in fact, none. 

"I literally said to my friend, 'this is a freaking fire trap,'" he recalled. 

Brockman and a friend spent a weekend in the small apartment in August 2022.

The apartment had a single exit, the front door, and the air conditioning unit pumped air into the building's hallway, he said.

"I thought it was maybe just the old — you know, the fact that it's a heritage building. But I was saying, like there's no way this place can be legal."

The owner of the building, Emile Benamor, has said through his lawyer that the building was up to code. The lawyer, Alexandre Bergevin, told CBC News that only one unit had no windows.

______________________________

One of those people, 18-year-old Charlie Lacroix, had called 911 from inside the building as the fire raged, stuck in a unit with no windows.

She told police, "come and get us because there are no windows where we are, we can't get out and the fire is burning," according to her grandfather, Robert Lacas.

______________________________

Both Fraum and Brockman said there were no emergency exit signs in the halls. 

"I have to imagine everyone living there thought at some point, 'man, if there's a fire, I'm a goner,'" said Fraum, who uses the pronoun they. 

"The building was so clearly back in time."

Fraum said they spoke with an official at the Ville-Marie borough to express their concern about a lack of smoke detectors in some units and other fire hazards, but was told the complaint could not be filed because they no longer lived there.

"I tried to raise the alarm and it wasn't heard," they said.

"I always had this sense that if someone looked into something, they would see everything."

The city of Montreal did not answer questions about how they conduct inspections or whether specific concerns had been flagged about this building.

A spokesperson said CBC could file an access-to-information request.

______________________________

The building is listed as having 15 units and a number of those were rented out full time as Airbnbs, which are illegal in Old Montreal. 

Bergevin blamed the Airbnb operation on a tenant, Tariq Hasan, and said Benamor tried to put an end to the practice.

But three people familiar with the situation, including Fraum, say Benamor was aware of the Airbnbs and wasn't trying to stop them from being rented out. 

"They existed and they weren't a secret," Fraum said.

Hasan declined to comment when reached by phone earlier this week. He later referred CBC News to a lawyer, who declined to answer questions on his behalf.

Airbnb did not respond to specific questions about whether it had received complaints about the places for rent at 135 Du Port Ave.

__________________________

Paul Duey, a Montreal building inspector, reviewed photos of the apartment where Brockman stayed in Old Montreal

He said the lack of windows and exposed wiring were both red flags.

He added: "I've done thousands and thousands of inspections and I've never seen a unit in an apartment [building] without a window, so that is definitely odd in itself."

Another person who was staying in the building on the night of the fire said she managed to escape by breaking a window. 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-fire-1.6788756

[Mike K.]

Don’t these places have fire safety inspections?

Who did the last inspection, and why the property passed, giving the owner a sense that everything was on the up and up will be documented. Clearly, a room/unit without a window isn’t right, and not having exit signs is also not right.

[Victoria Watcher]

The city of Montreal did not answer questions about how they conduct inspections or whether specific concerns had been flagged about this building.

A spokesperson said CBC could file an access-to-information request.

 

 

How pleasant.

 

That poor 18-year old woman (and presumably her companion also died).  Calls 911 - twice, from the windowless unit - and then dies.

 

It might have been impossible for fire to find her anyway, but were they able to enter the building at all?  Some cities require a fire access plan to be in a box secured to the outside wall of multi-unit properties so fire personnel can look at the building floor-plan map and helps them find individual apartments and stairwells etc.  

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2023 - 08:34 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Of course if the fire was fast-moving, as it appears to have been, there is not much time to do all this.  

 

But presumably at least some of the first responders knew that this woman had been calling 911 and was trapped.

 

In hindsight of course, she should have made a break for it down the hall, and of course that might not have worked either.  I think if I saw the hallway was full of smoke and/or flames in the dark, I might think staying put is best.

 

It's very sad.

 

A fireman once told me some saying like "walls lead to safety" or something, the premise was that even if you can not see at all, try to feel your way along any wall, as eventually it'll lead you to a door, or out.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2023 - 08:41 AM.

[Mike K.]

Yes, it’s harrowing.

The building was a death trap.

And THIS is why the housing industry is trying to replace end-of-life multi-unit structures. Eventually, a tired, worn out 1960s-era building has to be extensively renovated or replaced. But councillors know best, and try to keep that from happening.

[Victoria Watcher]

Fraum said they spoke with an official at the Ville-Marie borough to express their concern about a lack of smoke detectors in some units and other fire hazards, but was told the complaint could not be filed because they no longer lived there.

"I tried to raise the alarm and it wasn't heard," they said.

"I always had this sense that if someone looked into something, they would see everything."

 

 

Something is wrong with this policy.  How about at the very least, a note simply goes on the file and the address is flagged for the next regular fire department visit.  Even if the complaint isn't investigated immediately.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2023 - 08:51 AM.

[Mike K.]

Clearly, there were no inspections being done.

No fire alarms. No exit signs. At least one suite without windows.

Now extrapolate that to other buildings. How many more death traps are in Montreal?

[Victoria Watcher]

Benamor’s lawyer, Alexandre Bergevin, said in an interview Friday that the short-term rentals in the building were the work of tenants and not his client. He said one person was renting seven units in the building and “illegally” listing them on Airbnb. He said that Benamor had told the person to stop the short-term rentals, and they had reached an agreement for him to leave the building by July 1.

“It’s a real scourge, it’s uncontrollable,” Bergevin said of the Airbnb rentals. “He had doubts on several tenants in several buildings, but it’s quite difficult to get the proof of all that.“

The lawyer acknowledged that one apartment in the building “didn’t have a window in the traditional sense of the term,” but it did have a skylight.


https://www.thestar....fatal-fire.html



Not in the traditional sense of the term. It had a window, but it happened to be in the ceiling, likely 14 feet over the tenants.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2023 - 09:57 AM.

[Nparker]

Bringing this back to the local scene, how thorough are the building inspections of the CoV's Old Town structures, especially those that were last renovated 30 or more years ago? Who's monitoring tenants regarding short term sub-rentals and Air BnB's here?

[Victoria Watcher]

The City hired a firm for compliance. And/or they have the back door provided by Air BnB to cities.

I think fire compliance here is probably pretty good. And perhaps less open to corruption than Quebec.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 March 2023 - 10:33 AM.

[Nparker]

"It can never happen here"... 

[pontcanna]

@SidneyFireDept

 

3:00 AM · Mar 26, 2023

A commercial structure fire has been extinguished on Galaran Rd.

@SidneyFireDept @dns_fire @CSaanichFire @SidneyRCMP @BCAmbulance
responded. A quick response and aggressive attack contained the fire largely to the room of origin. 

 

No injuries reported, cause is under investigation.

 

[Victoria Watcher]

If I were to guess, I'd say its about here:

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 March 2023 - 02:21 AM.

[pontcanna]

Nanaimo overnight:

 

[Victoria Watcher]

A photo posted to social media shows fire crews on scene in a laneway between the Nicholson Manufacturing building and the new Amazon warehouse. The laneway connects Galaran Road to Beacon Avenue West.

https://www.cheknews...e-dept-1145996/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 March 2023 - 10:52 AM.