Fire Prevention Officers
At the Mill Bay Fire Department, the Fire Prevention Officers(FPOs) have two main jobs:
Public Education involves creating awareness of fire safety issues as well as direct training in some areas of fire safety. We reach the community through school visits, community fairs or events, seminars with community organizations, and by participating in media advertising. We go door to door through different neighbourhoods to check smoke detectors and replace them if necessary. We provide training to school teachers, venue staff, high school students, and other community groups in the use of fire extinguishers.
The FPOs also works to improve safety in the community by working with property owners to ensure they meet fire safety standards and providing advice so that they can go above and beyond to make sure the occupants of their building have the best chance of making it out of a fire unscathed. They also work to update the fire department’s knowledge of the buildings in the community and their contents, usually through the form of pre-planning which involves making fire department specific pre-plans which is available to all fire officers in our dispatch rooms and on truck mounted computer tablets which are installed in almost all our vehicles. It should be noted, however, that Mill Bay FD currently does not perform official fire inspections at this time, and it is up to the property owner to ensure fire code compliance. We will do a building walkthrough, offer advice and point out anything we notice.
If you have questions on fire safety, are interested in having Mill Bay FD visit your community group or event, want instruction on all areas of fire safety including live fire extinguisher training, or have anything else that we may be able to help with, please contact our Prevention Office by email directly at fpo@mbfd.ca.
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