A Very Personal Cautionary Tale About Townhouse Fire/ CO2 Safety

I’m sure you have seen or heard safety/ preparedness ads over the years that remind us all that, “It can happen to anyone.” Today, we’re going to tell you a story that proves that this isn’t just a tagline.

My daughter was born into a fire safety family. Our family get-togethers always involve someone going through the entire home to test all the CO2/ smoke detectors. And when she moved into a townhouse, her uncle (a professional fire alarm technician) personally installed all of her CO2/ smoke alarms.

Being born into this family, you would think that she would be the last person that experiences a nearly fatal incident in her own home. But I’m here today to tell you that she did. And the CO2 detectors that her uncle installed very literally saved her life.

How Did This Happen?

Was this a case of a leaky fireplace or oven? No, the threat actually came from outside of her home.?

Contractors were working on the roof, and their poorly placed generator was actually filling her home with dangerous amounts of CO2 for hours. That just goes to show you how important this CO2 detector was.

She woke up feeling sick and nauseous. She tried taking a shower to wake up a bit, but then heard her CO2 alarm go off outside the bathroom, so she went to investigate. The detector alerted her to the fact that her home contained lethal levels of CO2 and she needed to get out immediately. If that alarm had not gone off, she could have easily fallen asleep in the shower and never woken up.

Fortunately, she was able to get out in time and call the local authorities. So, the story has a happy ending, but it was mere minutes away from a tragic one.

What Can Townhouse Managers/Boards Learn From This?

The condo townhouses were built in from the seventies. And in the seventies, smoke alarms and CO detectors were not part of the legislation yet. This means that their original governing documents didn’t have any lines of responsibility regarding alarms.

However, as these things become law, even if they can't necessarily update their governing documents, the corporation can have a fire safety planning document. Technically speaking, they're not required by law to have a fire safety plan. But they should still have a document that outlines their roles and responsibilities as well as what each resident's roles and responsibilities are.

Using my daughter’s example, she never received any documentation or welcome package outlining that she was responsible for maintaining her own CO2/smoke detectors and where she should install them. If she didn’t come from a fire safety family, she probably would have had no idea that this was her responsibility.

If you’re coming from living in a condo apartment, you’re used to your building maintaining these alarms. In fact, you’re (in most cases) not even allowed to touch them. As a result, the average former condo-apartment-dweller moving into a townhouse complex would have no idea that this is their responsibility– they’re simply not used to this.

Fire Safety in Condo Townhouses: Who is responsible?

When it comes to condo apartments, a corporation, board, or manager’s responsibility is more straightforward. But when it comes to townhouses, there are not as many shared spaces or shared equipment.

What are your responsibilities? Ultimately, the responsibility is on the corporation to maintain Fire Code Compliance! To know your condo's responsibilities, to have rules, to communicate and to educate your residents about their roles and responsibilities in fire safety, particularly when it comes to CO2 and smoke detectors. However, you also have the option of being more proactive. You can opt to go in and check smoke alarms and CO2 detectors. And if you do that, you can reduce your liability.

We also advise our townhome clients that they should have at least one fire safety audit to find out where their responsibilities lie. From there, they can either:

A) Bringing everything up-to-date, supplying new detectors, ensuring proper installation, and communicating that it’s the residents’ responsibility from now on to maintain and check them. Of course, that includes sending reminders in your newsletters. Or you can…

B) Do it and charge the residents back for the service.

Fire safety communication needs to be your top priority from the very start. You should include fire safety information in your resident welcome package, then send out reminders with your newsletters and your AGM package.

A quick paragraph or two about holiday décor safety in the winter, or BBQ safety in the summer, can go a long way to saving lives.

We are Your Townhouse and Condo Building Experts

No matter what type of property you’re managing, it can be difficult to stay up-to-date on changes to the fire code, while also staying on top of all the training/ maintenance required to keep your property safe and compliant. But we can help!

We have been working in the fire safety industry for over 30 years and can help simplify your code compliance and overall fire safety culture. Click here to contact us any time or call us at 1 (800) 281-8863.