Request technical assistance or fire investigation support

The Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) provides technical assistance on a variety of fire operations, training and life safety topics.

The OFC also provides support and assistance for fire investigations under certain conditions or in high-risk situations, including:

• All suspicious or fatal fires, and/or assistance with fire investigations that exceed the capabilities of the local authority
• Orders to evacuate a premises
• Imminent threat of a major emergency, where once started, has the potential to result in a serious threat to public safety or environmental emergency in a community

Request assistance

After-hours and emergencies

Outside of regular business hours and in an emergency, call:

• 1-800-663-3456 (toll-free)

During regular business hours

During regular business hours contact your regional fire service advisor:

Central

• Jack Blair

Vancouver Island North

• Tom Cooper

Vancouver Island Central

• Brad McDonald

Vancouver Island South

• Dan Wood

Southeast

• Dave Boreen

Southwest

• Ron Hull

Northwest

• Keith Stecko

Northeast

• Marcel Profeit

Types of assistance provided

Technical assistance

Fire service advisors are located throughout the province to assist and advise fire departments on issues or concerns that may come up in daily operations.

They can provide:

• Expert advice, guidance and support on best practices for fire departments, including assistance in fire investigations, fire safety inspection best practices, assistance submitting fire incident reports and minimum training standards
• Support for fire prevention and public education activities including FireSmart
• Direction for fire departments wanting to participate in the provincial wildfire services group that may be required for structure protection in a provincial wildfire emergency
• Support and guidance to the local authority’s designated inspectors and investigators, and advice about administration and enforcement of the Fire Safety Act (FSA) and the British Columbia Fire Code, in consideration of the FSA

Fire investigation support

Local authority designated fire investigators must report fires to the OFC according to the following criteria:

• All fire incidents that occur in the jurisdiction of the local authority
• All fatal fires or critical injury incidents (immediate)
• Explosions (immediate)
• Fires of a suspicious nature (immediate)
• Fires of unusual or complex origin or circumstance, such as unusual smoke or fire spread, or which involve circumstances that may result in widespread public concern like an environmental hazard

The OFC may assign a fire service advisor to attend immediately, depending on the circumstances and time the notification is received.