Central York Fire Services is launching a new community data portal to give residents a better look at the causes of fires in Newmarket and Aurora.
The new live community risk assessment will soon soft launch on the CYFS website. It is an interactive tool allowing residents to get more information about the history of fires in their area, as well as associated risk factors and related neighbourhood statistics.
The portal is meant to give both firefighters and residents a better understanding of fire data, educate the public, and give the fire department a better idea of how to target its educational work.
At the joint fire committee March 10, chair and Newmarket Councillor Kelly Broome said it is far more robust than she anticipated.
“I am over the moon impressed with the level you’ve come up with here,” she said, “I’m very excited to dive in and see everything that it does.”
CYFS deputy chief Lorianne Zwicker, who has been working on the project for the past year, has been touted for building the first such portal in Ontario in Georgina.
The new portal allows residents to look up information like how many fires have occurred in their area in recent years, and their respective causes. That can then highlight fire risks in the community. Other information is also available, like the number of homes that are smoke alarm compliant and population statistics.
“It really enhances our ability for our fire prevention and public education team to start looking at where are the fires occurring, what types of fires are occurring and how we can build programs to target those messages,” Zwicker said.
Other committee members expressed appreciation for the new portal.
“You’ve thought of everything,” Aurora Councillor Rachel Gilliland said. “I’m blown away by the level of detail.”
“Data is key for anything prevention-related, and I really appreciated the data,” Aurora Councillor Harold Kim said.
Newmarket Councillor Trevor Morrison said it stands to help more visual learners like him.
“That, I think, is exactly what I think the public needs to have, ... tools like this.”
Zwicker said that staff will be working on a more formal announced rollout and public education campaign. They also plan to highlight the portal at the Moonlight Movies events that Newmarket runs in the summer.