The seniors’ advocacy group CARP is calling on Ottawa and the provinces to enact legislation to require the use of fire sprinkler systems in all care homes and implement other measures to prevent fires at facilities.
The call comes in the lead-up to the anniversary of the L'Isle Verte nursing home fire last January that killed 32 and injured 15.
In an open letter, the group urged federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for nursing home safety to take steps to prevent future fire tragedies by legislating the retrofitting of fire sprinklers in all care homes and to enforce compliance with the national building and fire codes.
“The big issue is cost. This is not a piece of rocket science we are talking about here,” said CARP' s vice president Susan Eng in an interview. “If you had a loved one in the nursing home that is what you would want [governments] to do.”
One of the key findings during the L'Isle Verte investigation was that the building lacked both sprinklers and fire separation walls. Other problems include not having an evacuation plan in place and the lack of procedures that would have sped up the response time of fire crews and the evacuation of residents.
