January 2021
One of the many impacts of COVID is more residential fires.
People normally at the office during the day are working from home. Others remain at home, unemployed, as businesses have closed. They are cooking more and home cooking fires have increased.
At times some get distracted while cooking. For those new to cooking they may put cardboard in the oven or metal in the microwave. The numbers doing so are alarming. What was once basic safety precautions is now unknown among a generation more accustomed to ordering in than cooking.
Improper disposal of cigarette butts is another cause of an increasing number of fires in high-rise communities.
During the early days of COVID, Statistics Canada estimates that more than 4.5 million people who usually don’t work from home did so. In those homes every stovetop, water pipe, faucet and door hinge were used more heavily each and every day. In high-rise communities every elevator, hallway and mail room were more heavily used. More electricity was needed and more water travelled through building pipes. It stands to reason that this heavier use caused more systems and equipment to fail.
