Fire Marshal directive 2023-001: Notification of Fires and Explosions

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Fire Marshal directive 2023-001: Notification of Fires and Explosions

 

Communiqué 2023-01

February 17, 2023

On February 17, 2023, the Fire Marshal of Ontario issued directive 2023-001: Notification of Fires and Explosions which now supersedes Fire Marshal directive 2019-002 issued July 10, 2019.

The intent of Fire Marshal directive 2023-001 is to provide clarification to assistants to the Fire Marshal on the reporting of fire incidents in support of the prescribed responsibilities, powers and duties of the Fire Marshal under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act (FPPA).

Changes provide assistants to the Fire Marshal with a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities for notifying the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) of fires and explosions. This includes:

  1. Notifications involving a fatality, life threatening injury, or explosion will be evaluated 24/7 for determination of OFM investigation requirements, and deployment of OFM fire investigation staff.
  2. All other incidents will be evaluated from 7:30 am – 9:00 pm for a determination of investigation requirements. Calls received between 9:00 pm and 7:30 am (which do not meet the immediate notification criteria) shall be deferred by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre until after 7:30 am the next morning.

The directive will be made available via the OFM’s SharePoint site.

Enquiries regarding directive 2023-001 may be directed to the Office of the Fire Marshal via email to askofm@ontario.ca or by fire services to their Fire Protection Adviser.