The number of fires in Hamilton increased by 16 per cent between 2020 and 2022. Photo Credit: Flickr.
A recently released Community Risk Assessment Report from the Hamilton Fire Department (HFD) says that Hamilton is now at a “high risk” for residential fires.
Additionally, data shows a year over year increase in the number of fires in the city, dollar value loss, deaths, and injuries.
The report reads, “Significant and concerning trends in the city include increased residential fires and their associated deaths and injuries, the troubling and ongoing trends of residences that do not have working smoke alarms, increased persons living unsheltered, encampments, and issues surrounding housing stock availability (i.e. the increased need to protect and preserve existing residential building stock).”
The Ontario Fire Marshal requires that all Ontario municipal fire departments review their existing Community Risk Assessments annually and release updated versions every five years.
The last Hamilton Fire Department risk assessment was completed in 2019.
Risks and trends are then used to inform decisions about fire safety education programs, fire safety standards and enforcement, and emergency response.
The report will also be used to inform the mid-point review of the fire department’s 10-year Service Delivery Plan which is expected to be brought to Council in 2025 and will act as a follow-up report with recommendations and actions.
The report identifies that 73.58 per cent of buildings in Hamilton are single-detached homes (160,397 buildings), 12.0 per cent are semi-detached or row houses (26,150 buildings), 3.0 per cent are multi-unit residential with two to six floors (6,536 buildings), and 0.16 per cent are high-rise residential with seven or more floors (363 buildings).
All of those buildings are now classified as high-risk, after only being classified as moderate risk in the 2019 report.
Data also shows that the number of fires in Hamilton increased by 16 per cent between 2020 and 2022.
There were 432 fires in 2020, 471 in 2021, and 500 in 2022.
The total dollar loss has increased from about $19.8 million in 2020 to about $49.9 million in 2022 (152 per cent).
Fire-related fatalities have also increased from two deaths each in 2020 and 2021 to eight deaths in 2022.
Additionally, the percentage of homes that experienced residential fires and did not have working smoke alarms grew from 45 per cent in 2020 to 51 per cent in 2022, which the fire department says is “extremely concerning.”
That’s why the fire department is operating their Alarmed and Ready Program where staff visit residential properties and provide education while also installing smoke alarms and replacing batteries for residents.
The department also calls fire safety within encampments a “new and increasing concern in Hamilton” as are fires in vacant buildings where homeless persons are found to be staying.
HFD outlines that there were two significant encampment fires in 2021 and 2023 that caused substantial loss and there were three deaths and one firefighter injury in a vacant building.
Of note, despite making up only three per cent of Hamilton’s housing stock, 25 per cent of fires from 2020-2022 were at multi-residential buildings with two or more floors.
Non-building fires, which include vehicle fires, grass fires, and shed fires, made up 35 per cent of all fires in 2022.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
