OTTAWA - After an alarming increase of lithium-ion battery fires across the country, one fire service is taking its safety message to the big screen. The Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) has teamed up with Landmark Cinemas to run a four-week ad campaign featuring a real incident to show people why fire prevention matters during movie screenings at its theatres in Ottawa. It kicked off Sunday for the start of National Fire Prevention Week. “These real stories have proven to work on social media so the next step was bringing it to a new platform that is powerful, which is Landmark’s platform,” said Nick DeFazio, public information officer with OFS. “You have people who have their phones in their pockets before a movie, they’re not distracted, they can’t swipe away from your message and the message is being projected on a massive screen.” The ad features an Ottawa family who lost their home in March after a blaze sparked by a lithium-ion battery in a power bank that was charging a phone in a bed. The batteries are in everything from cellphones and power tools to laptops and e-bikes. “We’re still faced with a lot of aftermarket batteries… people buy batteries that are not approved or certified,” said Ottawa Fire Chief Paul Hutt. “When they do go into thermal runaway, where they overheat and that chemical reaction occurs, it’s very violent.” So far this year, Toronto has had 108 lithium-ion battery fires, already surpassing last year’s total with three months to go. “This is the fastest-growing public fire safety risk in Canada’s largest city,” said Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop. “We really need the federal government to expedite their process and the Office of the Fire Marshal to expedite their process and introduce regulations that will at least reduce the probability and the consequence of these fires.” It’s an issue fire services are grappling with across the country. A national strategy has been something the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) has been calling for. It would mean changes to the National Fire Code and the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. “That’s everything from a societal means of operating, charging, purchasing, discarding, recycling, all of those pieces are really critical,” said CAFC president Paul Boissonneault. “And then we’re also looking at code changes such as heat alarms in residential garages or in garages of multi-residential units because obviously these garage areas are where tools and batteries are often left charging and there can be differentiation of heat and/or extreme cold temperatures, which causes strain on charging systems.” The battery fires are unpredictable and more challenging for firefighters to put out. The CAFC also highlighted issues around lack of formalized training and specialized equipment. “Fire prevention really has to be our first line of defence,” Hutt said. “And it’s that proactiveness of how we can communicate to the public to make the public safe and to keep our firefighters safe on a daily basis as well.” Right now there are no specific regulatory requirements for lithium-ion batteries in Canada. The next update to the National Fire Code won’t be until 2030, but individual provinces can make changes to their own codes sooner. In Ontario, the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) said it is considering enhancements. “As we examine potential regulatory and Ontario Fire Code changes, our goal is to strike the right balance between supporting the safe use of these technologies and ensuring the protection of the public and first responders from emerging fire risks,” the OFM wrote in a statement. Health Canada says it received “broad support for the introduction of mandatory safety requirements,” when it sought public input earlier this year, adding “international harmonization, costs to industry, and transition timelines were other key considerations raised by respondents.” Health Minister Marjorie Michel offered no specifics or a timeline when asked about potential regulations this week. “We are doing consultation now at Health Canada and we are working closely with Minister MacKinnon at Transport Canada. We will keep you informed,” Michel said. Fire officials say to: DeFazio said the hope is to expand the ad to theatres across the province and the country with the goal of changing behaviour, preventing fires, injuries and saving lives.
