A landlord in St.Catharines has been fined for not having working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Leap Properties Inc. pleaded guilty in court to Ontario Fire Code charges of not having a working smoke alarm in one of its rental units at 175-175 ½ Queenston St. and for not having carbon monoxide alarms in two of its units or in its basement service room.
Ontario law requires working smoke alarms on every story of a unit and outside all sleeping areas of a property.
The law also requires working carbon monoxide alarms outside sleeping areas in all units where a fuel-burning appliance is installed or that share a common wall or floor with a service room containing such an appliance.
St.Catharines Fire Chief Dave Wood says every resident deserves to feel safe in their own home and rental units need to be protected with working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.
The court fined Leap Properties $3,585 ($2,700 for the smoke alarm charge and $295 for each of the three carbon monoxide alarm charges) plus court costs and victim fine surcharges.
In an unrelated matter before the court, 2269036 Ontario Inc. pleaded guilty to using a rock to wedge open a fire door leading from a basement elevator/stairwell vestibule to the parking garage.
The fire code requires closures designed as fire separations, such as fire doors, to not be obstructed, blocked, wedged open or altered in a way that prevents it from serving its purpose.
An open fire door would not only allow fire to spread inside the building easily but will also allow carbon monoxide to enter the residential area.
The Court fined the property owners of the building, which operates as the Loyalist Retirement Residence, $895 plus court costs and victim fine surcharge.