Pointing to a safety risk for everyone in the building, the Ontario Fire Safety Commission recently ordered a Guelph man with admitted “hoarding tendencies” to clear paths throughout his apartment and keep combustible materials at least a metre away from potential ignition sources.
“The commission has determined that the hoarding condition in the apartment is hazardous and creates a fire risk to the appellant and to those in the building,” states a written decision dated April 20. “The measures ordered are necessary to ensure fire safety.”
He has until June 20 to comply.
The commission’s decision follows two days of appeal hearings in January related to a July 31, 2019, inspection by the Guelph Fire Department (GFD), following a complaint about the apartment’s condition filed by a County of Wellington housing community support worker.
During that inspection, fire officials found “excessive storage” of books and other combustible materials in the 400 sq. ft. bachelor apartment that not only posed a fire risk but would hinder someone’s ability to get out in the case of a fire, as well as the ability of firefighters to access the apartment, explained the commission’s decision.
Concern was also noted that the height of stored materials could impact the smoke detectors’ ability to function properly.
In his appeal of the inspection order, the resident said it would be “impractical” to maintain a metre of distance from potential ignition sources such as baseboards given the small size of the apartment.
He also claimed to have been “unfairly targeted by the landlords and the inspectors” because the requirements aren’t applied evenly to everyone in the building.
The commission disagreed, stating it found no evidence the resident had been unfairly targeted.
“The appellant accepts the importance of fire safety in his unit and noted that he is neither a smoker nor does he light candles,” states the decision. “He would like the Order to be amended to exclude furniture, stacked or not, from the clearance limitation, but acknowledges the potential for stability issues.”
During the hearing, Insp. Barry Williams explained fire safety concerns, especially those involving residential hoarding, are addressed through a complaint-based process.
“The GFD noted that it can only address conditions in other apartments when it receives a credible complaint about fire hazard concerns there, and that it would be impractical for the GFD to inspect all of the other apartments based on the appellant’s complaint without any supporting evidence.”