The Municipality of Thames Centre Fire Department consists of two stations, located in the community of Dorchester and the community of Thorndale. They are staffed by professionally trained volunteers who do a tremendous job of promoting public fire safety, protecting your lives and protecting the property of our community. Our volunteers from both stations are dedicated to responding to 9-1-1 calls for fire, carbon monoxide, vehicular accidents and medical situations as quickly as possible.
Thames Centre Fire Stations
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Dorchester: 2156 Dorchester Road, Dorchester, ON
Thorndale: 17198 Thorndale Road, Thorndale, ON
Open Air Burning & Control Burn Request
Open air burning is regulated within the municipality. Open air burning will only be conducted with the conditions set out in the Open Air Burning By-law.
Before starting any open air fires, fill out a Control Burn Request Form , submit to fireadmin@thamescentre.on.ca or the FlightExec Centre office. Then when ready to burn contact Strathroy Caradoc Fire Services Dispatch at 519-245-1300 or 1-844-220-1300. Call before and after to avoid unnecessary fines and/or charges.
A form request is NOT required for backyard recreational fires.
Fireworks
Thames Centre has a fireworks by-law that outlines how and when fireworks are permitted to be discharged.
Yield to Flashing Green Light - Firefighter
Within our municipality, we have volunteer firefighters who often use their own vehicles to travel to our halls when responding to emergency calls. These vehicles are sometimes equipped with flashing green lights that our volunteers will use to notify other drivers on the road that they are on route to an emergency.
The courtesy rule: pull over to let the volunteer firefighter pass when it is safe to do so.
“Watch for Flashing Green Light” signage is being installed across the municipality to help spread awareness and clarity on the meaning behind the lights.
Inspection Requests
Middlesex Centre Fire Services offers fire safety inspections on a request and a complaint basis on behalf of the municipalities of Middlesex Centre, Thames Centre and North Middlesex.
It is the municipality's responsibility to ensure fire safety inspections are conducted upon complaint, request, and as necessary to meet the mandatory requirements of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA) and associated regulations.
Inspection requests can be submitted through our online submission portal below or by contacting the fire inspection officer.
When submitting a request consider the following:
- Fire safety inspections are not usually completed on single family homes.
Smoke Alarm Legislation
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Homeowners:
It is the responsibility of homeowners to install and maintain smoke alarms on every storey of their home and outside sleeping areas.Be sure that your street address number is clearly visible to fire/rescue workers.
It's important to hold family fire drills at least two times a year. If you have very young or elderly people in your home, assign someone to help them. If there's a fire, get everyone out of the home, then call the fire department. Make sure at least one window in every bedroom can be used for easy and fast escape in case of fire. Be careful not to overload electrical circuits. Lights that flicker or dim indicate trouble that must be corrected.Landlords:
It is the responsibility of landlords to ensure their rental properties comply with the law.Tenants:
If you are a tenant of a rental property and do not have the required number of smoke alarms, contact your landlord immediately. It is against the law for tenants to remove the batteries or tamper with the alarm in any way.Failure to comply with the Fire Code Smoke Alarm Requirements could result in a ticket for $235.00 or a fine of up to $50,000.00 for individuals or $100,000.00 for corporations.
When installing smoke alarms, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for information about correct placement. Test your smoke alarms every month using the test button. Replace smoke alarm batteries at least once a year, and whenever the low-battery warning chirps. Smoke alarms don’t last forever. Replace smoke alarms with new ones if they are more than ten years old. Steam from the shower or cooking in the oven, stove or toaster can cause smoke alarms to activate. DO NOT REMOVE THE BATTERY. Instead, try moving the alarm to a different location, or purchase a smoke alarm with a hush feature that will temporarily silence the alarm. For further information about dealing with nuisance alarms, visit the Ontario Fire Marshal’s website.
New Fire Safety Resources
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The Office of the Fire Marshal has produced new social media shareables and updated videos you can use to educate your communities about fire safety.
The social media shareables include fire safety messaging related to:
The updated videos include:
· Cacophony – cooking fire safety (French) · Up in Smoke – cooking fire safety (French) · Emily’s New Room – smoke alarms (French)  · Make it Stop – smoke alarms (French)
If you have any questions, please contact the OFM’s Public Education and Communications Unit. |