Our staff's experience covering the news in Airdrie has shown us that there tends to be an uptick in the number of fires reported in the city around this time of year.
That makes plenty of sense for grass fires, given the dryer climate that tends to come following winter, but it's a phenomenon that seems to apply to structure fires, too.
This past week, we reported on two structure fires in Airdrie – one that was the result of arson at an area high school, and one that emerged in a household's garage in Windsong Heights.
May was a busy month for local firefighters in 2021 and 2020 as well, and we'd like to use this space to remind people to think about basic fire safety this month. Even though Fire Safety Week is held during the fall, firefighters always stress to us when we cover that event that fire safety is something people need to consider year-round.
The high-school fire, as the school division informed us, was caused by a student. We can only guess what the student's motivations were – was it a prank gone wrong? A dare? Regardless, it was stupid, and resulted in thousands of dollars worth of damages.
The other fire is still under investigation, but Airdrie Fire Department personnel used the incident to put forward an important public safety announcement – to not re-enter a burning household in an attempt to rescue a pet.
While it could seem tempting to rush back into your household to retrieve a pet dog, cat, or other animal – it's the kind of scene we can picture seeing in a movie or television show – the reality is that if you do that, you're only risking your own safety. (And risking your own safety means you're needlessly risking a firefighter's safety as well, as they'd be the one who has to rescue you, in turn).
Let's all remember to consider fire safety this month.
