HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-09-13, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012. PAGE 11. The presence of solar panels and
the danger they can cause for
firefighters during a structure fire
was once again discussed by North
Huron council.
“It’s a complicated issue that we
need to deal with soon,” Councillor
Brock Vodden said. “There is a
concern as to whether firefighters
will know if there is a solar panel
involved in a structure fire. It can be
difficult to tell because some panels
are designed to look like shingles.”
Vodden said that while some
ratepayers have made claims that
low voltage panels aren’t as
dangerous as other, he said that
firefighters on the scene won’t know
whether they’re high or low voltage.
“There are so many issues that not
just strictly centred around the
technology of the panel,” Vodden
said. “It links to the building code
and many other safety features that
could put our firefighters in
jeopardy.
“Chief [John] Black, last year,
explained that he directed his
firefighters not to enter any building
with solar panels on the roof because
of these safety issues,” he said.
Vodden said the need had been
highlighted by a recent fire just
south of Blyth during which
firefighters from the Fire
Department of North Huron’s Blyth
hall found black smoke completely
obscuring the building that was on
fire which is believed to have been
caused by solar panels burning at the
site.
The answer, according to Vodden
is to get the information regarding
solar panels to the firefighters viathe dispatcher.He suggested that council start aninitiative to collect information on
solar panels that should be made
available to dispatchers and
firefighters to help them know what
they’re dealing with.
“This is an area where we have to
put energy in to get everyone on the
same side” Vodden said. “We need
to create an environment that is safe
instead of trying to figure out what
people need.”
Councillor Archie MacGowan
said that, if council was following
this path, it would be a good idea to
involve other municipal agencies.
“I think it would be prudent to
have the chief building officials
(CBO) for local municipalities
involved,” he said. “I know that
Dave [Black] sits on a group of
CBOs and, with the Huron County
Fire Chief’s Association, they could
make a plan on how to deal with
this.
“This would keep them somewhat
on the same page,” He said. “I
believe the prudent thing to do
would be to have Dave look into
that.”
Councillor James Campbell said
that there may be a problem with
tracking down all the solar panels
since they could easily catch all the
building permits going forward, but
going backwards would be an issue.
“The back issues could slip
through,” he said. “They will need to
go back through all the previous
building permits issued to find
them.”
Reeve Neil Vincent highlighted
another problem: some solar
installations, especially stand-alone
units, don’t require building permits.“The reality is that a lot of panelsdon’t require municipal approval,”he said. “The standard requires
anything with a footprint of over 100
square feet to have a building permit
and not all of them are covered by
them. They won’t have a buildingpermit.”The discussion was inspired by areport regarding building and
property standards focused on solar
panels that was completed by CBO
Black.
“It was the fire that CouncillorVodden mentioned that promptedKathy [Adams, deputy-clerk] and Ito ask for this report for councillor
information,” Chief Administrative
Officer Gary Long stated. “The
A new look
Five-year-old Chelsea Courtney was one of many children who got her face painted by
Buttons the Clown over the weekend at the annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and
Hobby Association. The weekend was a big one for children as the grounds were flooded with
young people on Friday (student activity day) and then again on Saturday and Sunday with
various competitions and events to keep those of all ages entertained. (Jim Brown photo)
Solar panels dominate debate in North Huron
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Continued on page 35