Red Deer Emergency Services firefighters take down fire of mock dorm room at Red Deer Polytechnic on Friday for Fire Prevention Week. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

The roof is on fire

Red Deer Polytechnic hosts side-by-side burn of mock dorm rooms

Oct 7, 2022 | 4:57 PM

The Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) parking lot was on fire this Friday, literally.

The institution hosted a controlled side-by-side burn of two replica dorm rooms in conjunction with Red Deer Emergency Services (RDES) to showcase the importance of fire safety.

READ: Fire simulation happening at CrossRoads Church Oct. 8 at 1 p.m.

The exercise falls in line with the 100th annual National Fire Prevention Week, which runs October 9-15,
and raises fire safety awareness through educational initiatives.

“The theme of this year’s Fire Prevention Week is ‘Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape’, and home fire sprinklers dramatically improve your chances to safely escape a home fire,” said Shane Dussault, Assistant Fire Marshal for RDES.

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Having completed similar demonstrations since 2019, this year’s displayed a small fire beginning in the garbage cans of two mock eight-by-eight-by-eight foot dorm rooms.

One room was equipped with a sprinkler system activating at roughly 68°C, installed by RDP’s second and third-year Sprinkler Systems Installer Apprentices, and suffered minimal fire damage.

(L-R) Mock dorm room with sprinkler system, before and after fire at Red Deer Polytechnic. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

Within minutes, fire engulfed the second room without a sprinkler system, confirming the speed and danger of fire.

(L-R) Mock dorm room without sprinkler system, before and after fire at Red Deer Polytechnic. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

“The side-by-side burn demonstrated the effectiveness that properly installed sprinkler systems by skilled trades workers have on containing and controlling fire to buy time for evacuating and allowing fire personnel to extinguish a fire,” said Chris McCloskey, RDP’s Sprinklers Systems Installer instructor of 18 years and the event’s organizer.

McCloskey says with the ability of fire to double in size every 30 seconds, sprinkler systems are one important tool that greatly reduce the destruction and negative impact of fires in the right conditions. He also states as each sprinkler is individually activated, 89 per cent of fires are kept at their origin, becoming a hero for firefighters.

Many homes, however, do not have sprinklers installed and there is currently no legislation in Alberta requiring new homes to be built with sprinklers.

McCloskey says sprinklers can be installed in built homes for a range of $2,500 to $5,000.

“It’s minimal disruption to the building itself,” he said. “We can cut channels in the closets, we can run our rises up through different closets.”

“It’s under $1 per square foot and what you pay for your granite countertop will pay for your sprinkler system.”

For a new home, Jo-Ann Gauthier, Western Regional Manager and National Manager Field Operations for the Canadian Automatic Sprinkler Association (CASA) estimated the installation at two per cent of the new build.

“Our position is to incentivize builders when they’re building developments,” she said. “Or offer sprinklers. Just make it an option. Let the customer, let the homeowner, decide.”

Dussault agreed that legislation for mandatory sprinklers in new homes would benefit owners and neighbours.

“We start to see home fires that are actually losing two to three houses at a time just because they grow so fast so if we could get that caught earlier on, we could save a few people’s homes,” he said.

As fire fumes get toxic very quickly, he says early detection through smoke alarms is important to wake sleeping residents, and to alert others to exit the building immediately.

Joel Gingrich, Dean for School of Education and Trades, appreciated the multi-faceted purpose of the demonstration.

“The demonstration not only reminded individuals about implementing effective fire safety measures, but it reflected the high quality skilled trades programming and opportunities at Red Deer Polytechnic,” he said. “This is another example of how the Polytechnic’s instructors and staff provide industry-leading experiences for apprentices in dynamic ways. We are very proud of the Polytechnic’s skilled trades instructors and apprentices, who have earned a positive reputation across the province, country, and globe for being leaders in their fields.”

McCloskey states that with only five schools in Canada with a similar program, RDP is the only one offered among the Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Yukon areas.

The demonstration was a collaboration between Polytechnic’s staff, including fellow Sprinkler Systems Installer Instructor Emil Ohler, and external partners with RDES on site and funding by CASA.

(L-R) Chris McCloskey, Red Deer Polytechnic’s Sprinklers Systems Installer Instructor; Jo-Ann Gauthier, Western Regional Manager and National Manager Field Operations, Canadian Automatic Sprinkler Association; Shane Dussault, Assistant Fire Marshal, Red Deer Emergency Services; Joel Gingrich, Dean, School of Education and Trades at Red Deer Polytechnic. (RDP)