This is not a false alarm: Port Coquitlam considers charging for repeat false alarms

New inspection fees, stricter penalties, and more authority for the city’s fire chief are on the table in Port Coquitlam.

Council discussed a possible update to the city’s fire safety regulations on Tuesday in a bid to make the city safer and the fire department more cost efficient.

If passed, the new bylaw would allow the fire department to fine property owners $150 for multiple false fire alarms. The fine increases to $250 for three false alarms, and $400 for four. Six or more false alarms will cost $900 per incident.

The changes fall into line with similar guidelines in Coquitlam, where residents are charged $215 for the first excessive false fire alarm, $282 for the second, and $410 for the third and subsequent false alarm.)

Fire inspection requests would cost $150 under the updated bylaw. Additional inspections would cost $150, $300, or $400, depending on the number of visits. For comparison, Coquitlam charges $116 per inspection, and $173 if the visit happens after hours.

If there’s a risk of fire in a forested area, the bylaw would give the fire chief the authority to order trees trimmed or in some cases, buildings to be demolished.

The fire chief could also enter private or public forests to: “take any reasonable action to prevent or suppress a fire.”

When extra staff or equipment are needed to deal with a large fire, the proposed bylaw would allow those costs to be charged to the property owner’s insurance company.

That aspect of the bylaw raised a concern for Coun. Steve Darling, who asked if the department would essentially be charging someone who just lost their home.

“It typically wouldn’t be imposed on a single-family residential home,” answered fire chief Blake Clarkson. “It’s more meant for larger incidents, like larger apartments or at commercial buildings where there’s a larger financial cost that would affect our operating budget more severely.”

In 2022, dozens of residents were displaced after a fire tore through a Wilson Avenue apartment complex.

That fire also left the department with a $36,000 shortfall, as the city had to pay overtime costs for Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam firefighters.

The new bylaw would make property owners responsible for maintaining fire hydrants and “other critical fire suppression infrastructure,” while allowing the fire department to require fire safety plans for multi-unit buildings and construction sites.

The proposed rules fall into line with the latest standards from the B.C. Fire and Building Code.

The bylaw requires further votes from council before being officially adopted.