July 2009 Global Concepts in Residential Fire Safety Part 3 – Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Dominican Republic Prepared by: TriData, a Division of System Planning Corporation 1000 Wilson Boulevard, 30th Floor Arlington, VA 22209 (703) 351‐8300 For: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention 4770 Buford Highway, NE Mailstop F‐62 Atlanta, GA 30341 And FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate U.S. Department of Homeland Security AFG Fire Prevention and Safety Grants July 2009 Global Concepts In Residential Fire Safety Part 3 – Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Dominican Republic Table of Contents PREFACE...................................................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ II SUMMARY OF BEST PRACTICES ............................................................................................VI I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 Study Approach ....................................................................................................................... 1 Report Organization................................................................................................................ 4 Caveats..................................................................................................................................... 4 II. CANADA .................................................................................................................................. 6 Overview of Canadian Fire Services ...................................................................................... 7 Home Visits............................................................................................................................ 17 Reaching School Children ..................................................................................................... 25 Reaching Juvenile Fire-Setters ............................................................................................ 36 Reaching Elderly and People with Disabilities.................................................................... 36 Reaching Immigrants and Ethnic Groups ........................................................................... 38 Codes and Laws for Home Safety ......................................................................................... 39 Provincial and Local Campaigns .......................................................................................... 43 Consumer Products for Safety .............................................................................................. 54 Partnerships .......................................................................................................................... 55 III. PUERTO RICO ...................................................................................................................... 58 Overview of Puerto Rico Fire Service................................................................................... 58 Home Visits............................................................................................................................ 62 Reaching School Children ..................................................................................................... 63 Reaching Juvenile Fire-Setters ............................................................................................ 66 Reaching Elderly and People with Disabilities.................................................................... 66 Reaching Immigrants and Ethnic Groups ........................................................................... 67 Consumer Products for Safety .............................................................................................. 67 Partnerships .......................................................................................................................... 68 IV. MEXICO ................................................................................................................................ 70 Overview of Guanajuato Fire Service................................................................................... 70 Reaching School Children ..................................................................................................... 73 State and Local Campaigns .................................................................................................. 75 Safer Homes........................................................................................................................... 77 Consumer Products for Safety .............................................................................................. 79 TriData Division, July 2009 System Planning Corporation Global Concepts In Residential Fire Safety Part 3 – Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Dominican Republic V. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ....................................................................................................... 81 Overview of Dominican Republic Fire Service..................................................................... 81 Reaching School Children ..................................................................................................... 81 Local Campaigns ................................................................................................................... 83 Partnerships .......................................................................................................................... 84 VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................... 85 TriData Division, July 2009 System Planning Corporation Global Concepts In Residential Fire Safety Part 3 – Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Dominican Republic PREFACE In the United States, as in most western industrial nations, the majority of civilian fire deaths and fire injuries occur in the home. As part of its mission to reduce residential fire casualties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control is identifying promising fire safety programs—best practices— around the globe that could be used in the United States. Established best practices in other countries can provide examples of successes to stimulate improvements in prevention practices in the United States. This report is the third, and final, in a series of reports that aim attention at best global practices in residential fire prevention. The first study, entitled Global Concepts in Residential Fire Safety, Part 1, undertaken in 2007, focused on the European nations of England, Scotland, Sweden, and Norway. The second study (Part 2), conducted in 2007– 2008, focused on the Pacific Rim nations of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. This third study (Part 3) was carried out in 2008–2009 and focused on the North American nations of Canada, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. All of these reports may be downloaded at no cost from www.sysplan.com/tridata/publications/international. System Planning Corporation’s TriData Division was selected to undertake this study of best global practices primarily because of its long experience in this field. From 1982 to 1993 TriData produced a series of reports entitled International Concepts in Fire Protection. The reports were widely disseminated and led to many articles in fire journals and presentations at fire conferences in the United States and internationally.1 In 2003– 2004, TriData did a survey for the International Association of Fire Rescue Services (also know by its French acronym CTIF) of the best programs in residential fire safety among its member nations. The present series of reports updates the previous research. 1 International Conception in Fire Protection: New Ideas from Europe. July 1993. TriData Corporation, Arlington, VA; International Concepts in Fire Protection: Practices from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. 1985. TriData Corporation, Arlington, VA; and International Concepts in Fire Protection: Ideas from Europe that Could Improve U.S. Fire Safety. 1982. TriData Corporation, Arlington, VA. TriData Division, i July 2009 System Planning Corporation Global Concepts In Residential Fire Safety Part 3 – Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Dominican Republic ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was performed under a contract from the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Mick Ballesteros and Dr. Shane Diekman were the technical monitors and principal investigators for CDC. Dr. Diekman participated in most of the international interviews for this third report and took most of the Canadian pictures presented in this report. The study was funded through an interagency agreement to CDC from FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; AFG Fire Prevention and Safety Grants. McKing Consulting Corporation, a contractor to CDC, provided support to this project, including many of the complex travel arrangements. Joe Durbin and Elizabeth Haas managed the contract