As winter temperatures decrease, threats to heat sources increases.
Attempts to keep pipes from freezing and rooms from chilling often go beyond what's safe and ignite fires in homes and businesses. Prince George Fire Rescue Service was braced for such incidents, but the recent cold snap produced no undue events.
"The weather doesn't stop the fires, and sometimes it even increases the number of calls we get," said Prince George Fire Rescue deputy chief Kelly Gilday. "It happens when people are thawing their pipes, overloading their wood stoves or fireplaces, and I have to say this year has been relatively quiet compared to other years. I think the warmer weather earlier in the winter has helped. The risk gets reduced, but we will see how things go this next week."
Although warm recently, winter is still in effect. Gilday said the danger comes primarily from inattention or inappropriate choices with heat sources.
"If you can imagine it, it's been done,"
he said.
Gilday said the last time city crews were called to a fire during a significant cold snap was a pair of incidents in late November, 2010, when the Twisted Soul Tattoo and Body Piercing shop burned on Victoria Street followed by a house fire on Foster Road. The lows were about minus-20 those nights.
These fires were both deemed by police to be suspicious and are still under investigation. Neither was blamed on poorly conceived heating attempts.
Gilday said the fire department makes few changes to the way they do business when the mercury drops, but certainly the colder the weather the harder it is to fight a fire.
Firetrucks are kept indoors during those particularly frigid times, except for emergency responses. If firefighters are called upon to douse a blaze, close tabs are kept on them by their supervisors, because it takes less time for cold air to affect their bodies, their equipment and the dynamics of the water.
"If the firefighter is sprayed with water, and stays in one position for a period of time, it can freeze you right up, you can't move, which can be funny at times but concerning at the same time," said Gilday.
They are also careful to use a kind of antifreeze on the trucks' valves so ice doesn't seize them shut.
The best way to protect firefighters and their specialized equipment from the elements, said Gilday, is for the public to take fire prevention steps. This responsibility isn't lowered, just because the temperature is.
