Burlington Fire - Programs and Services

The fire prevention division responds to public fire safety inquiries, conducts fire inspections, enforces the Ontario Fire Code and develops and delivers public education programs based on identified community risks.

Inspections are conducted with available resources on a complaint or request basis.

Fire prevention through public education is a priority of the Burlington Fire Department. It is part of each employee's responsibility to deliver fire prevention and public safety messages and promote safer behaviours when interacting with the public. 

The Burlington Fire Department prioritizes the development and delivery of fire prevention and life safety education programs based on identified community risk.

For a description of programs currently offered, please see our programs section below. For general inquiries about public education, please email: firedepartment@burlington.ca

The Burlington Fire Department is made up of career and volunteer firefighters, who are highly trained to respond to a wide range of emergencies including, but not limited to:

• fires
• alarm system activations
• medical assistance
• motor vehicle collisions
• hazardous material incidents
• high-angle rope rescue
• water/ice rescue

Firefighters are also involved in a number of non-emergency programs and community events and provide support to fire prevention staff in delivering public education and fire prevention programs.

The Burlington Fire Department's communications division handles between 15,000 to 20,000 emergency calls, and thousands of non-emergency calls, every year.

Public safety telecommunicators (dispatchers) are usually the first point of contact during emergency or non-emergency calls for fire service requests for assistance. 

The fire department's communications division answers phone calls and dispatches emergency services for the Burlington Fire Department, Oakville Fire Department and Halton Hills Department through the fire service dispatch partnership between the City of Burlington, the Town of Oakville and the Town of Halton Hills.

The Burlington Fire Department, along with other regional emergency services, use a public location tool called what3words to help 9-1-1 telecommunicators locate anyone who needs assistance and cannot provide an exact location, such as on a trail, in a forested area, park or even in a large building such as an arena or community centre.

What3words is a free application that can be used by anyone with a mobile device. It works offline when there is unreliable or no data connection.

For more information and to download the app, visit: what3words.com

If you reside within a designated open-air burning area (PDF), an Open-Air Burning Permit is required prior to burning.

You can request an open-air burning permit (free of charge) by completing an online form or by contacting Fire Prevention at 905-637-9536. 

If you are thinking about requesting an open-air burning permit, please keep the following in mind: 

• The use of chimneys, fire pits, and outdoor fireplaces is considered open-air burning
• Open-air burning is strictly prohibited in the urban area of Burlington (South of Dundas Street/HWY 407). Open-air burning permits will not be issued for this area.
• Permits will only be issued for camp fires, cooking fires and open-air burning of leaves, brush, wood or other approved material. 
• The burning of garbage or petroleum based products such as tires, shingles or plastics is strictly prohibited.  
• Open-air burning is considered a fire hazard and poses a risk to nearby combustible materials such as homes, sheds, decks and landscape material. 
• Open-air burning is governed under the jurisdiction of Article 2.6.3.4 of the Ontario Fire Code

• A Fire Prevention Inspector will conduct a burn site inspection for all new burn permit requests. 
• All permits and renewals completed in 2020 are now a lifetime permit, exception of North Aldershot Pilot Project
  
  • An annual burn site inspection is not required if the site location has not changed.
  • If the location has changed, an additional inspection may be required. 
  • To request a new inspection, complete the online form call Fire Prevention at 905-637-9536.

If you suspect open-air burning in a non-designated area, you are being bothered by the smoke from a fire or you are concerned about the location of an active fire and would like to make a complaint, please contact us at: 905-637-8253.

Due to the current pandemic, the Alarm Assistance Program is on hold until further notice. We are still accepting new clients and will notify all clients when we are able to get back conducting home visits. If you have any concerns regarding your alarms please feel free to reach out to us by email at firedepartment@burlington.ca.

The Alarm Assistance Program is a free, in-home program offered to Burlington homeowners over the age of 65 and/or persons with a disability or limited mobility who need help maintaining home smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.

Read more about the Alarm Assistance Program (AAP)...

The Burlington Fire Department has revised the delivery method of all school curriculum support programs, now offering all programs virtually. Due to the current pandemic, in classroom presentations and station visits are on hold until further notice.

We offer customized presentations as well as fire station visits to enhance curriculum-based learning that is tied to life and life safety.

Some examples of educational support we provide include: 

• Kindergarten and Grade 1 Community Helpers and Learn not to Burn curriculum

• Grade 7 and Grade 9 Science of Fire curriculum support

• Special needs, personal safety and life-skills curriculum

• Lesson support for high school science, civics, cooking classes

• English as Second Language (ESL) curriculum and home fire safety for newcomers

Email firedepartment@burlington.ca to request a presentation or learn more.

This community outreach program is geared to residents living in Burlington's apartment/condo buildings. The focus of this targeted outreach strategy is to educate residents about how to prevent the most common causes of building fires (unattended cooking and careless smoking) and create awareness of the importance of personal escape planning. 

If you are a building owner, property manager or tenant and would like to learn more, or customize an educational visit for your building, please email: firedepartment@burlington.ca

Due to the current pandemic, station tours are on hold until further notice. We look forward to welcoming you back into our stations as soon as possible!

Members of the public can drop by any of Burlington's fire stations for a station tour. For larger groups, please call the station you wish to visit ahead of time to book your visit.
Please note: station tours are conducted by on-duty firefighters who may need to leave the station to respond to emergency calls during scheduled tour times.

The e-waste program has been suspended until further notice. The Burlington Fire Department is no longer accepting e-waste at any of the Burlington Fire station locations. Electronic waste is accepted for free at the Halton Region Waste Management Site.

To learn more about other recycling programs, visit our waste initiatives page.

The Burlington Fire Department has received Superior Tanker Shuttle accreditation from the Fire Underwriters Survey following successful tests of the department's plan used to deliver water to the areas of Burlington that have no access to fire hydrants.

The Tanker Shuttle accreditation test includes a thorough field review of Burlington's fire risks and defences by the Fire Underwriters Survey, a national organization that provides data on public fire protection for statistical and insurance purposes.  Subscribers of Fire Underwriters Survey represent about 85 per cent of the private sector property and casualty insurers in Canada.

As part of the testing, tankers from Milton, Hamilton and Burlington transported water in a continuous loop from Harrison Crescent to the test site at Appleby Line and No. 1 Side Rd. Halton Regional Police Service provided traffic control for both sites.

Residents who live in rural areas of Burlington can download this certificate to send to their insurance company when negotiating their home insurance rates.