New cooking system preventing Toronto house fires

Toronto - Toronto Community Housing and Toronto Fire Services announced Wednesday that in two years there has not been a stove top cooking fire in units that have a electric stove equipped with the Safe-T-element cooking system.

The electric stoves equipped with the Safe-T-element cooking system have been placed in 1,000 Toronto units as of Wednesday. The Safe-T-element is a Canadian product innovation that controls the high end temperature of the burners. This allows for efficient cooking but stops common household materials from igniting. The unit is also an energy saver. As part of a fire safety plan Toronto Community Housing began installing the Safe-T-element at two renewal projects--Rivertowne and Regent Park. "We are pleased to announce that in the past two years we have not had any cooking fires in any of the housing units where we have the Safe-T-elements installed," said Brian Laur, Manager of Insurance and Risk Management, Toronto Community Housing. "Now in addition to the new developments we are now mandating that all new replacement stoves in existing buildings be equipped with the Safe-T-element cooking system." Cooking equipment is a leader as to cause in preventable house fires according to the Canadian Fire Safety Association. In Ontario cooking equipment was the source of 1,494 annual fires. From 2004 and January 2010 there were 127 cooking fires within Toronto Community Housing. Those fires came at a $2.1 cost. "Cooking fires continue to be a leading cause of fire deaths in our City. The best way to fight a fire is to stop them before they start," said Frank Lamie, Deputy Fire Chief of Toronto Fire Services in a press release obtained by Digital Journal. "We applaud Toronto Community Housing for being a leader in fire prevention by installing Safe-T-elements in their housing units. Tenants will now have further safety measures in place to prevent cooking fires." About six percent of Toronto residents live in Toronto Community Housing. Toronto Community Housing is the largest social housing landlord in Canada with about 60,000 units and 164,000 tenants with low to moderate income. The patented Safe-T-element cooking system was developed by Pioneering Technology Corp. of Mississauga, Ontario and is the only technology of its kind available that helps prevent stovetop cooking fires before they start. Safe-T-element is installed in hundreds of multi-residential public, senior, university and military housing developments across North America. Safe-T-element has been awarded the U.S. Home Safety Council's Commendation Award for Product Innovation for Consumer Safety.