Massive Calgary condominium blaze caused by potting soil catching fire

CBC News

Smokers stubbing their cigarette butts into outdoor planters are causing a spike in fires, according to Co-operators insurance company.
A cigarette left smouldering in flowerpot caused this March 18 fire in Calgary, which left 300 people homeless. (CBC) 

In one recent case, about 300 people were left homeless when a cigarette was left in a planter on the fourth floor of a Calgary condominium.
"It's combustible," Calgary firefighter Brian McAsey said of the soil in planters. "It's not like the soil or dirt on the ground. It's flammable, so anytime you put a cigarette in there or incendiary device you have the possibility that it could heat up and then start a fire."
No one was killed in the March 18 blaze, but one firefighter was hospitalized with minor injuries and five police officers were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.
An investigation found a discarded cigarette had been smouldering in a flowerpot and started the fire, which quickly spread to the attic of the building.
"Unfortunately these types of fires can smoulder for quite a long time before they start up and you can actually see flame," McAsey told CBC News.
McAsey, who serves as a spokesman for the Calgary Fire Department, said he's attended about two dozen fires that began in potting soil over the 10 years he's been fighting fires.
Potting soil contains substances which are flammable such as shredded wood, peat moss and fertilizers, which act as accelerants. (iStock) 

The fires happen because potting soil is composed of organic substances that are flammable, such as shredded wood, bark, peat moss, Styrofoam and vermiculite.
On top of that, fertilizers in the soil can act as oxidizers that can accelerate flames.
"People should remember to be prudent when disposing of their cigarettes," said Glen Oxford, the manager of claims at Co-operators.
"The reality is that homes have burned to the ground because of careless cigarette disposal."
In a media release, Co-operators states that smoking bylaw changes have pushed more smokers onto the streets, and when ashtrays are lacking they use planters instead.
The insurance company recommends making more ashtrays readily available to outdoor smokers as a preventive measure.
Another solution it recommends is keeping outdoor plants well watered.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/07/21/con-planter-fires.html#ixzz0uOp9QsE2

 

I happen to be allergic to tobacco and find smoking a disgusting habit in the first place. I agree with smoking bans but the aggregation of smokers huddled at the entrances to public buildings forces one to run the gauntlet of a cloud of smoke when entering. Too many smokers seem to treat the world as their ashtray not acknowledging that their butts are toxic waste. We should all be aware by now of the dangers of smoking in bed and now have a new hazard as regards butting out. How many forest fires are caused by people who open their car windows and toss their butts? To me there are only two kinds of smokers--those who have quit and those who want to. To help them along we need to work harder to make smoking socially unacceptable to the point that smoking has a pariah status.  I realize that the attempt at Temperance shows that making it illegal would be doomed to failure but the health costs alone associated with smoking are astronomical. The fact that smoking is not illegal should not be allowed to let Tobacco Companies argue that their lobby is justified. Smoking is an addiction that is incredibly difficult to break, we need to work harder to make smoking so uncool that young people will not be drawn into this filthy habit. Too many are still taking it up at at time when they can least afford the expense and its deleterious effects on their health will be most strongly felt. Most worrying is the rising number of young women now smoking. 

Crime decreased again last year

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 | 12:53 PM ET

CBC News

Crime reported to police across the country dropped again last year, according to a Statistics Canada report released Monday. (CBC) The volume and severity of crime reported to police across the country dropped again last year, continuing the downward trend seen over the past decade, reports Statistics Canada.
Nearly 2.2 million crimes were reported to police in 2009, about 43,000 fewer than in 2008, according to a report released Tuesday.
Car thefts, break-ins and mischief cases accounted for most of the decline.
The crime rate, which is a measure of the volume of crime reported to police, fell three per cent last year and was 17 per cent lower than a decade ago.
The crime severity index (CSI), which measures the seriousness of incidents reported, declined four per cent last year and was down 22 per cent from 1999.
Violent crimes, from harassing phone calls to homicide, accounted for about one in five crimes in 2009. The report said violent crime is declining but to a lesser extent than overall crime.
There were about 165,000 youth age 12 to 17 accused of a criminal offence in 2009, a slight drop from 2008. Both the numbers and the seriousness of youth crimes have generally been declining since 2001.
The drop in police-reported crime severity was consistent across the country, with only Manitoba and Nunavut reporting increases.
Police-reported crime was most serious in the territories and the western provinces, which has been the case for the past decade. Crime-severity values in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories were twice as high as in the provinces.
Saskatchewan reported the highest crime severity index among the provinces, followed by Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta.
Among census metropolitan areas (CMAs), police-reported crime severity was highest in Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Calgary was the only western CMA below the national average.
The Toronto CMA reported a four per cent decline in crime severity in 2009. Its CSI was third lowest, behind Guelph and Quebec City.

Fifty Per Cent Chance of Rain

July 6, 2010

Today that turned out to be 100% on July 6th when I set out on a pamphlet guided walking tour of old East End Saint John’s. With the dearth of street signs in Saint John’s just finding the starting point was no mean feat but once I located the Colonial Building in Bannerman Park the directions seemed well-written and easy to follow. Saint John’s has a diverse assortment of architectural wonders considering that the majority of buildings in the area I walked were built after the Great Fire of 1892. What continually strikes one is the mix of elegant residential homes, business establishments, and government offices existing cheek by jowl. In the course of my walking I encountered flowering lupins, liburnums, horsechestnuts, and catalpas. After visiting the Anglican Bookstore in the former Commisariat gave up when the rain continued to intensify and went downtown for late Brunch.

July 8,2010

One of those rare sunny days here. Struck out to drive the Baccelieu Trail passing the Dildos, various Hearts, Shag Rocks at Whiteway Harbour, New and Old Pelican, then back the south side through various granite cliffside villages to the city of Carbonear, Harbour Grace and return to Saint John’s after getting trapped on the expressway to the TCH. Suppose I should have done more research but with narrow, winding, hilly roads; few chances to pull off and take pictures or visit museums or cafes; this became a sightseeing journey. With all due respect to Yarmouth NS’s Lupin Trail the hillsides here are covered in them. The population centres on the trail are on the south side of the peninsula and the highways that serve them largely bypass the outport villages there.

July 11, 2010

Made it down to the Cathedral for Choral Eucharist. After walked down to George St and had a Guinness and Fish Cake Breakfast while a toddler misbehaved while his father slowly sipped an ale. I was glad to see the end of them. After finding my way down to Water Street discovered it to be one huge construction project. Reaching the former train station in West End Saint John’s involves running an obstacle course of construction and overhead highways. Once reached it sits forlornly amid super-highways just west of the container shipping plant with no tracks in sight. The college-age kids inside were not yet born when the last tracks were lifted. I was amused to note that the porter’s shoes were in desperate need of dusting and polishing. Again I spent the afternoon wallowing in yet another aspect of Newfoundland life that is no more. The Newfie Bullet opened up the interior of the island, transported goods and people to market, was a wartime means of transport but highways served to render it unprofitable so first passenger transport ended in 1969, then later it was scrapped completely when maintenance costs outstripped earnings. A single engine and a few passenger cars sit forlornly in the park just west of the station beside a couple work cars and next to them the eastern terminus of the Trans Canada Trail which uses the former railbed. Finding the actual trail at this point amid the city is not obvious.

July 16, 2010

After a rather rainy week was thankful to make it down to Holy Heart Auditorium under cool clear skies for a performance of Britten’s Albert Herring. It’s so nice to know that computers speed things up. Thanks to their efficiency, (extreme sarcasm here), the Opera was twenty minutes late starting and was held up another 20 minutes by preshow speeches. Although the tallest male on stage Albert Herring was no matinee idol and Opera in English is barely more understandable than the usual Italian. The orchestra was excellent and although a bit over-powered the singers good as well. The audience caused the first intemission to drag on to 40 minutes and despite warnings 1/4 were still not seated at the start of the third act. At 11:30 I walked home under the stars.

July 17, 2010

Even tourists have to eat and RV travellers who make their own need to go grocery shopping. I know better than to wait until a Saturday, noon at that but what the hay. Kept running into the same little old gentleman and every time his cart blocked the entire aisle. In cosmopolitan Saint John’s most things are available, even things that might surprise one but most fruits and vegetables and dairy come from off-island. I was amused to see that bedding annuals were still very much for sale in the garden centre on the parking lot in the middle of July. The liquor store next door stocked a gluten-free ale. On the fourth attempt found the recycling centre to redeem my bottle deposits. When I finally had $1.75 in hand it hardly seemed worth the effort.

July 18, 2010

Made it to and from the Cathedral for Choral Eucharist without getting wet. Finding a crush of customers at my favourite Bagel Cafe walked home stopping for Ziggy’s salads at Save Easy. Packed in Montreal I’m glad to report they did not give me food poisoning though I had second thoughts. Today, Monday, the 19th is my last full day in Saint John’s. I’ll be glad to escape the noise of traffic and sirens, overflights by Sikorsky Helicopters and jets from Torbay, and the hills of Saint John’s. I’ve also had enough of high church tradition at the Cathedral. Beadles, Vergers, bounden duty, oblations, processions, sidemen... ...too much for my blood. I need to pump my grey water tank just because and fill my fresh water while I have the opportunity. I’m thinking that since the sun is shining I should go explore the Memorial University Campus beside which I’ve been camped for a month before I leave the area especially since it’s a sunny day.

N.L. the worst recycler in Canada: StatsCan

CBC News

A Statistics Canada report has found Newfoundland and Labrador is the worst province in Canada at recycling. (CBC)

A Statistics Canada report released Monday shows Newfoundland and Labrador recycles less than any other province in Canada.

The Households and the Environment Survey questioned Canadians about their recycling habits in 2007, but the results weren't released until now. It found Newfoundland and Labrador households had the worst access to recycling in Canada and that the province has limited ability to recycle the four types of recyclable materials: paper, glass, metal and plastic.

The study found just 71 per cent of homes in Newfoundland and Labrador had access to recycling services versus an average of 95 per cent of households in the rest of Canada. In P.E.I., 100 per cent of homes could access recycling.

Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest rate of recycling in the country. Who is responsible?

Municipal leaders, for not making it a priority
The provincial government, for not forcing the issue
People like you and me, for not insisting on it
Our location makes shipping recycled goods too expensive

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Worse still was access to curbside recycling. Only 19 per cent of homes in Newfoundland and Labrador had access to curbside recycling, compared to 51 per cent in the rest of Canada and 78 per cent in Quebec.

Only 27 per cent of homes reported being able to recycle all four materials while 89 per cent of Canadians could recycle each. The numbers generally show that when the programs are available in Newfoundland and Labrador, households take advantage.

More than 90 per cent of N.L. households that have access to curbside recycling use it.

Despite the poor access, the report found 97 per cent of people in the St. John's census metropolitan area, and 93 per cent of people living outside it, made the effort to recycle.

Overall, 98 per cent of Canadians reported recycling in 2007, up from 86 per cent in 1994.

The report also asked people why they recycled. Those surveyed in Newfoundland and Labrador were far less likely to say they felt a "social responsibility" to recycle than other Canadians.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/07/12/newfoundland-and-labrador-worst-recycler-in-canada-712.html#ixzz0tgU9gEFi

No TTC stations meet cleanliness standard

Last Updated: Monday, July 12, 2010 | 8:06 AM ET Comments147Recommend54

CBC News

The TTC board will meet Wednesday to discuss the audit's finding. (Reuters)A TTC study assessing the cleanliness of all its subway stations has found that none of them meet the transit agency's own standards.
The TTC's cleanliness audit, conducted in May, evaluated stations on a scale of one to five.
Level one is defined as "unkempt neglect," while five has been labelled "orderly spotlessness."
The TTC aimed for a level four, in which floors are clean, payphones free of graffiti and washrooms clean and stocked. But none of the 69 subway stations met that standard — although 66 of them achieved level three cleanliness, described as "casual inattentiveness."
It would take at least 60 additional full-time staff to meet cleanliness requirements, said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.
But the transit agency has no money to hire them, he said, so improvements in cleanliness may not come for a while.
"It is not possible under the current resources to achieve all of the cleaning, all of the painting, all of the things that people expect from their stations," said Giambrone.

Some improvement since 2008

The audit reports an improvement in cleanliness over the last two years.
In 2008, 34 stations were classed as level two cleanliness, or "moderate dinginess." As of May this year, only four stations fell into that category, the TTC said.
But the TTC still has a long way to go, as stations are not cleaned frequently enough, said Giambrone.
For instance, subway walls are cleaned once a year, but Giambrone said they need it every six months.
"That's one example of how you need to almost double the resources to take what is a year and turn it into six months," he said.
Thirty temporary cleaners will be added in August to undertake a six-month cleaning blitz, said Giambrone.
The TTC board will meet Wednesday to discuss the audit's finding.
In addition to the audit, TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc is also inviting riders to conduct their own audit of the system's cleanliness. He is asking riders to go to their regular station on July 17 at 11 a.m., fill out the questionnaire and then send it to his team at the audit website.

InsideHalton Article: Telltale signs of outdoor marijuana grow-ops

Police seek public's help in curbing growing problem

Halton police are asking residents to keep their eyes open for signs of outdoor marijuana grow operations during the warm months of summer.

Over the past several weeks, police say they have responded to multiple calls related to outdoor grow operations, which can be a local problem well into September.

Police said this time of year marijuana growers select rural areas that may include swamps, cornfields, wooded areas and rural rental areas with large acreage.

The owners of these properties may not even be aware their property is being used to grow the marijuana.

To start and maintain the operation, police say, the growers may bring large bags of fertilizer, shovels, chemicals, pails, generators, pumps, and marijuana plants to the outdoor location.

The plants are put in the ground and maintained over the summer months, requiring infrequent visits (once or twice a week) by the grower due to the heartiness of the marijuana plant.

In September or early October the growers return to harvest the plants, leaving the roots and waste behind.

Marijuana plants are bright green, the leaves have seven jagged fingers. The plants grow between three and five feet tall and give off an odour similar to that of a skunk.

Telltale signs of an outdoor marijuana grow operation include:

• Abandoned vehicles parked on side roads or trails.

• Repeated attendance to remote locations.

• People observed walking in remote areas for no apparent reason.

• People trespassing onto fields on foot or by off road vehicle.

• Bags of fertilizer, planting trays, or chemicals located in remote areas or dumped at the side of the road.

• Well trampled trails in wooded or swamp areas.

• Cleared out areas in swamps, wooded areas or cornfields.

• No Trespassing signs, which appear out of nowhere within forests, cornfields etc.

Anyone who discovers an outdoor marijuana grow operation should call the Halton Regional Police Service Drug Unit at 905-465-8732 or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or text SMS# CRIMES (274637) or by visiting Crime Stoppers online at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com.

If the matter is urgent members of the public are directed to call 905-878-5511.

Police also advise the public:

• Not to touch marijuana plants due to the chemicals that may have been used on them.

• To leave the area, record licence plates and call police if confronted by a marijuana grower.

• Do not approach outdoor grow operations due to the low percentage of operations that are booby trapped or guarded.

InsideHalton Article: Telltale signs of outdoor marijuana grow-ops

Rising Tide Theatre

If you have doubts about global warming then think on the fact that this summer it has been hotter in the great white north of Central Canada than it is in Austin, Texas. The temperature has even reached eighty in Halifax and after an unprecedentedly cold spring it is now getting into the eighties in Saint John’s Newfoundland. While I’m off-topic I’ll also note that with the Calgary Stampede in full swing the death of horses and the injuries to riders is suddenly in the news. As with the recent running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain is it really news that people who run with bulls get gored or that bulls get killed in the bull ring? In their effort to sell news media are reporters and editors fueling the animal rights frenzy?

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Having been busy seeing and doing I’m a month behind in reviewing Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity Bight. As an uptight mainlander I cannot resist a gentle poke at the gal in the Tourist Chalet at which I stopped to make sure I wasn’t totally lost who told me that I couldn’t miss the theatre if I followed the signs. What signs? Even the building itself now a different colour from the pictures lacked a sign. Blundering into the artistic director’s office herself assured me she’d see to getting it back up and true to her word it was two days later. Finding the box office I was confronted with the possibility that the first performance that evening could be in two separate locations depending on the weather which were some distance apart at other locations unknown to me. Apparently I wasn’t the only one confused, no tickets were sold for that performance.

The comedy Culture Shock by Lorne Elliot was having its dress rehearsal even as I purchased my ticket to see it. It’s always a challenge to get their comic timing down when actors have no idea where the laughs are going to come. A rehash of the oft-told tale of an outport boy who goes down the road to the big city this is a work-in-progress both for the actors and the writer. Being an obsessive compulsive I was at pains not to straighten the painting on the wall of the simple set in which an old vinyl chair, an old TV propped on an orange crate, a few doors and windows, and Hillyard’s roped cardboard box were the principle props. With three actors playing multiple characters each the wardrobe department was kept busy doing quick changes backstage. This is one piece in which a little over-acting would not go amiss.

Rising Tide Theatre runs as an extension of Artistic Director Donna Butt’s force of will. Herself greets her audiences and stands in front of the set chatting them up until she acknowledges that she should not be responsible for causing a production to start late as she has admonished her production staff to be punctual. She commissioned and directed Paul Rowe’s Silent Time, an adaptation of his book of the same name and the author appears in the play. An elaborate set demands a great deal of the audience as for example actors walk through a kitchen to get to the back door. The nosey postmistress who knows everybody’s business spying behind her window blind is priceless. [I was amused later to see cancellations in the museum in which the postmistress had scratched out postmaster and substituted Postmistress.] Illustrated here is the condescending paternalistic way in which politicians and business owners have interfered in the lives of Newfoundlanders for centuries believing that they know better than the people themselves what is best for them. Somehow the production left me oddly disquieted. I could do with a little more humanity and a little less didacticism.

The weather Sunday Night left little doubt that that evening’s performance of David French’s Saltwater Moon would be done outdoors with seven audience members sitting on lawn chairs in front of a rocking chair and rickety park bench. That bench caused some consternation as to whether it could support the rather husky Lee Fowlow perching on it at odd angles. Otherwise with only the full moon missing, (it was first quarter and the moon was visible), as a kitten mewed in the background at someone’s door this was a perfect Newfoundland setting as Jacob Mercer opened the backyard gate to come romance the girl he left behind him when he left home for Canada. Jacob’s old suitcase held together with a length of ship’s rope and Mary’s amber spyglass were the only other props as he arrives fresh off the boat from Port-Aux Basque. Allison Kelly the actress is as bowled over as Mary Snow the character she portraits by Jacob’s wooing. Only in a place like this would one run into the actress later and be thanked for being such a responsive audience member. It was a rare privilege to see an actor so fully inhabit a part as Lee Fowlow did that of Jacob, his wooing was so realistic that only a tumescent crotch was missing. This performance was so real it left one feeling like one was intruding.

Gourmet Assessment

Haitian Relief

I’m listening to a report on Earthquake Relief in Haiti six months later. With a government that barely functioned before the disaster there is now no infrastructure in place even to assist in family re-unification. Governments worldwide have millions of dollars in aid money ready to help but won’t release it until the Haitian Government puts ministers in charge of reconstruction. For their part the Haitians insist on administering that aid money which given theiir the past history of corruption foreign governments will not release. To understand that feeling one must look no further than the Italian Earthquake of 20 years ago. Italians in the Greater Toronto Area raised 30 million dollars in relief aid which the Italian Mafia magically made disappear without building a single shelter. Meanwhile ordinary Haitians live in canvas tent cities amid daily torrential rain, no privacy, sexual abuse, no sanitation, no clean drinking water, malaria, dysentery, and disease. When her term as Governor-General expires Michel Jean is returning to her homeland to attempt to assist the recovery; somehow one has the feeling that she faces a greater challenge than keeping Stephen Harper in line.

BP may see claim from P.E.I. fishermen

Last Updated: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 | 1:40 PM AT Comments61Recommend35

CBC News

There are 350 licensed tuna fishermen on P.E.I. (CBC)

The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association is considering filing a compensation claim with BP.

The oil company has a $20 billion fund set aside to pay fishermen, business owners and people whose livelihoods have been affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ed Frenette, executive director of the fishermen's association, said the spill will have long-term effects on P.E.I.'s bluefin tuna industry. The question is how severe those effects will be.

"The spawn this year in the Gulf of Mexico has already been affected," Frenette said. "We'll see the results of that commercially in eight to 10 years."

Frenette said it's less certain what will happen to adult fish now in the waters off P.E.I. and working their way back to the Gulf of Mexico.

"If they have to swim through all that oil and guck, and whatever else is there, will it have an effect on them and our ability to continue with the commercial fishery?"

There are 350 licensed tuna fishermen on P.E.I.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/07/07/pei-tuna-spill-584.html#ixzz0t2S0dNUr