Research & Resources: Fire Prevention & Community Outreach

2022

September 2022 - Prioritization for the Scheduling of Fire Safety Inspections: Risk-Based and Data-Driven Inspection Framework Exploring the administrative systems used to prioritize the annual workload of the fire safety inspections.

2021

October 2021 - "Distressed Properties: Community Risk Reduction in the City of Surrey" An Evaluation and Analysis of the Distressed Properties Program

May 2021 - "A Review of First Responder Responses to Lift Assist and Traumatic Fall Incidents" Analysis on City of Surrey Medical Assistance Response

2020

October 2020 - "Journey of HomeSafe: Community Risk Reduction in Surrey" Analyses from Surrey Historical Data

2019

June 2019 - "City of Surrey Opioid Summit: Data to Action" Developing a Plan to Take Action from Data Insights to Prevent Overdoses and Overdose Fatalities

May 2019 - "Fires that Commence on Balconies of Multi-Residential Buildings" Analysis of the National Fire Incident Database

May 2019 - "Opioid Intervention Strategies in Surrey, British Columbia" An Evaluation of the Trends and Treatments

May 2019 - "Structure Fires in British Columbia" Exploring Variations in Outcomes as a Function of Building Height and Life Safety Systems

March 2019 - "The Influence of Electrical Fires in Residential Homes" Geospatial Analysis Pointing to Vulnerable Locations and Equipment Failures

February 2019 - "Predicting Illicit Opiate Drug Overdoses in the City of Surrey" Impacts of Opioid use in Neighbourhoods

2018

December 2018 - "Targeted Residential Fire Risk Reduction" A Summary of At-Risk Areas in the United Kingdom"

December 2018 - "Smoke Alarm Response Time" Examining the Relationship Between Working Smoke Alarms, Fire Service Response Times and Fire Outcomes"

January 2018 - "Residential Fire Injury and Death Rates in British Columbia" A statistical analysis pre and post 1975

2017

November 2017 - "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hospitalizations and Deaths in Canada"

October 2017 - "Sprinkler Systems and Residential Structure Fires - Revisited" Exploring the Impact of Sprinklers for Life Safety and Fire Spread

March 2017 - "Occupational Exposure to Asbestos among Civic Workers: A Risk Assessment of Low-dose Exposure"

2016

October 2016 - "Targeted Residential Fire Risk Reduction : A Summary of At-Risk Aboriginal Areas in Canada"

July 2016 - "Targeted Residential Fire Risk Reduction: A Summary of At-Risk Aboriginal Areas in Manitoba"

March 2016 - "Celebrating Seniors Report March 2016"

2015

September 2015 - “Smoke Alarms Work, But Not Forever: Revisited" Successes and Ongoing Challenges from BC’s Working Smoke Alarm Campaign.

August 2015 - "Assessing the Safety of Smart Meter Installations in British Columbia" An analysis of residential structure fires in BC between July 2012 and June 2015.

April 2015 - "Construction Site Fire Response"  Preventing and Suppressing Fires During Construction of Large Buildings.

April 2015 - "Construction Site Fire Safety" A Guide for Construction of Large Buildings.

2014

August 2014 - "A Dynamic Risk-Based Framework for Redesigning the Scheduling of Fire Safety Inspections" A risk-based, data-driven framework for redesigning fire safety inspections.

August 2014 - "Assessing the Fire Safety of Smart Meter Installations in British Columbia" Revisiting the residential structure fires in BC between July 2010 and June 2014.

July 2014 - "Intermodal Shipping Container Fire Safety" Studying the fire hazards related to using shipping containers as temporary and permanent storage buildings.

February 2014 - "Fire Outcomes by General Construction Type" A retrospective analysis of British Columbia reported fires.

2013

November 2013 - "Fires in the Basement of Single-Detached Residential Property" A retrospective analysis of British Columbia Residential Fires Reported 2008 to 2013

September 2013 - "Revisiting the Safety of Smart Meter Installations in British Columbia" An analysis of available data related to the issue of smart meter installation and residential structure fires.

July 2013 - "Temporal and Geographic Clustering of Residential Structure Fires" This paper compares residential structure fires and residential burglary within a North American city over a three-year period.

June 2013 - "The Non-Random Nature of Fire Safety Inspection Compliance" This document outlines the logic for rethinking the current approach to conducting fire safety inspections in BC Municipalities.

May 2013 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Patio Problems" Outside fires take longer to detect, cause more damage and need extra resources to extinguish.

February 2013 - "Taller Wood Buildings and Fire Safety - Existing Evidence about Large Wood Construction" A look at the existing evidence about large wood construction.

February 2013 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Hungry for Knowledge" Surrey Fire Service partners with local food banks to spread fire-safety message to at-risk population.

January 2013 - Canadian Firefighter and EMS Quarterly: "Honouring Heroes" Home is a haven for first responders and their families who need medical care.

January 2013 - "Propane-Fuelled Vehicles and Multi-Residential Building Storage Risk" Examining the frequency of propane-fuelled structure and vehicle fires.

January 2013 - "Sprinkler Systems and Residential Structure Fires" Exploring the impact of sprinklers on life safety and fire spread.

January 2013 - "Fires That Commence on Balconies of Multi-Residential Buildings" Examining the significance of fires that occur on the exterior of multi-residential buildings.

2012

September 2012 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Walking the Walk" Surrey Firefighters and RCMP go door to door to reduce crime and promote fire safety.

August 2012 - "Evaluating Stakeholder Concerns with Wood Frame Buildings and Fire Risk" An evaluation of Bill 52, the Ontario Forestry Industry Revitalization Act.

August 2012 - "Evaluating Stakeholder Concerns with Wood Frame Buildings and Fire Risk - French" An evaluation of Bill 52, the Ontario Forestry Industry Revitalization Act.

June 2012 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Safe at Home" This BC program has reduced fires in high-risk areas by two-thirds.

May 2012 - "Reducing Frequency and Severity of Residential Fires Following Delivery of Fire Prevention Education by On-Duty Firefighters" A door-to-door fire prevention education program

April 2012 - "Examining 'Regular' Fire-Safety Inspections" Examining the missing relationship between timing of inspections and fire outcome.

February 2012 - FIREfighting in Canada: "The Wood Frame Conundrum" Study shows that sprinkler systems improve safety in mid-rise buildings.

January 2012 - "Sprinkler Systems and Fire Outcomes in Multi-Level Residential Buildings" An evaluation of the historical fire protection performance of sprinkler systems in multi-level residential buildings.

January 2012 - "Smoke Alarms Work, But Not Forever" Posing the challenge of adopting multifaceted, sustained, interagency responses to ensuring the presence of a functioning smoke alarm.

2010

August 2010 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Human Trafficking" Firefighters lend eyes and ears to report possible human trafficking and abuse.

2009

October 2009 - Canadian Firefighter and EMS Quarterly: "Dissecting Data" Fire study helps fire departments define education requirements.

July 2009 - "Global Concepts in Residential Fire Safety: Best Practices from Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Dominican Republic" Reporting on best global practices in fire prevention.

May 2009 - FIREFighting in Canada: "Handling Highrises" A systems approach to safety in highrise buildings.

February 2009 - "Residential Fires in Surrey, B.C., 1998-2007" A study that reveals important trends in fire safety.

2008

December 2008 - "Surrey High Rise Report" A report to help identify and plan for the challenges posed by these buildings.

2007

July 2007 - "More Research Needed Into Vehicle Fires" A study of vehicle fires in Surrey contradicts national research into vehicle fires.

2006

May 2006 - "Smoke Alarms: Evaluating Effectiveness" Fire research about how factors such as socio-economic status and age can affect efficacy of smoke alarms.

May 2006 - "Burning Cars: Vehicle Fires Account for Half of Surrey, B.C. Calls"

2004

August 2004 - "No, It Wasn't an Accident" Fire truck parking inside library is a handmade gift from Surrey Fire Service to encourage literacy and fire safety education.

August 2004 - "The Impact of Residential Sprinklers on Public Fire Protection" Addressing the numerous ways in which residential sprinkler systems impact the fire service.