VANCOUVER -- A new study paints a bleak picture of fire safety among Indigenous peoples in Canada, particularly those living on reserve.
The study found Indigenous peoples across Canada are five times more likely to die in a fire compared to the rest of the Canadian population. That number increases to 10 times for First Nations people living on reserve.
While deaths from fires on First Nations communities in B.C. are very low, the research director for the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council says the same cannot be said for hospitalizations due to burns.
“From a hospitalization perspective, associated with acute hospitalization, B.C. is four times greater if you’re Indigenous to be hospitalized acutely for burns than the rest of British Columbians,” Len Garis said.
The National Indigenous Fire Safety Council says poverty, inadequate housing conditions and housing without smoke alarms contribute to high mortality rates in other parts of the country.
To address this, the council says it will offer culturally sensitive education programs created for and delivered by Indigenous peoples.
“We haven’t necessarily done a good job of maintaining fire safety programs on First Nations communities and I would suggest the rates are demonstrative of that,” said Garis.
He says about a decade ago, nearly 30,000 smoke alarms were installed on reserves in B.C.
“We know those are going to be starting to expire and we’re going to have to revisit that program and refresh it or we’re going to see those (fatality) rates return,” he said.
The report was commissioned by the council and the Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada and used 2011 data from Statistics Canada.
The full report can be found here.
