December 4, 2023
The Community Property Safety Team (CPST) is now a permanent program within Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, maintaining its ability to help reduce the risk of fires in priority neighbourhoods in Edmonton.
The team, made up of Fire Safety Code Officers, was established to address the worsening problem of fires in unsecured vacant properties by proactively helping ensure vacant properties are secured at the landowners’ expense. It is expected that in 2023, CPST efforts have contributed to a 31 per cent decrease in structural fires in the neighbourhoods the team focuses on, including Alberta Avenue and downtown.
A vacant building is considered unsecured if there is an unauthorized person inside, if there is evidence of unauthorized people having been in the building, or if there is a way for an unauthorized person to access the building (for example, through windows and doors).
The pilot program was launched by Edmonton Fire Rescue Services in April 2022. Between that time and September 2023, CPST inspected 593 properties that were known or suspected unsecured vacant properties (UVPs), issued 295 enforcement orders and secured 320 UVPs.
