Entry Category
Program Entry – Overall Social Marketing
Name of Intervention/ Program
Firesafe: Ignite Awareness, Extinguish Fires!
Background and Situation Analysis
Since 2019, there has been an increasing number of fire-related deaths in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, since 2019. In 2024 there were 12,072 fires reported, causing 349 injuries and 80-fire-related deaths. 76% of these injuries and 61% of these deaths were caused by structural fires, with the majority taking place in residences. Residential fires disproportionately impact vulnerable communities, such as those living in clustered or overpopulated communities, underprivileged occupants of older houses, residents of buildings with sub-standard fire safety measures, and displaced individuals. Having a working smoke alarm can reduce the risk of fire-related injury in half, and since mid-2010, the BC Fire Code has required all homes, hotels, and motel rooms to have working smoke alarms. However, this is not systematically enforced in residential properties, and smoke alarms can be non-functional due to battery depletion or device expiration. According the BC Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC), fewer than 50% of residences with reported structure fires had a working smoke alarm. This campaign has two components: a province-wide social marketing campaign to educate residents about fire safety, and a direct intervention with firefighters knocking on doors to visit homes, based on the successful HomeSafe program. HomeSafe was a program undertaken by the City of Surrey in BC in which firefighters provided fire safety information and smoke alarm inspections and installations to homes identified as high-risk. Over the course of the 12-year program, the City of Surrey achieved a 70% reduction in fire rates. It was also reported that the presence of functioning smoke alarms at residential structure fires significantly increased from less than 30% before the program to 60% in 2019. Interestingly, fires without any smoke alarms decreased by 17%, which may be attributed to the increase in awareness and education about fire safety – specifically how to prevent and respond to fires – within the community as a whole. The social marketing component was undertaken by a BC-based non-profit organization. Using a mass media campaign that includes elements such as streaming services, digital ads, social media, out-of-home, the organization aims to raise awareness, transform attitudes, and ultimately change behaviour, with the goal to significantly reduce the number and severity of preventable injuries in BC. Since 2009, the organization has existed to remind British Columbians that injuries are, in fact, preventable, and that simple actions can make a difference. The campaign is delivered at the time and place that an injury could happen, providing a reminder to wear a bike helmet, put the phone away, demonstrate ladder safety, while challenging people’s beliefs that injuries are just “accidents.” This project is a collaboration between the organization, a research unit based at the University of British Columbia, and the BC Office of the Fire Commissioner, part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General of the Government of British Columbia.
Priority Audiences(s)
For this project, all residents of British Columbia 25 years of age and older were targeted with the social marketing campaign. For the door-knocking component of the campaign, high-risk neighbourhoods across British Columbia were identified, and fire departments within those areas were invited to participate in the project. Medium-risk communities were invited in Phase 2 before opening up recruitment to all of BC. Children and older adults are at highest risk of fire-related injury and death and were reached through this targeted approach.
Behavioral Objectives
• That British Columbians would install a working smoke alarm(s) in their home • That British Columbians would test their smoke alarms at least once a year • That British Columbians would know what to do in case of a fire: Call the fire department, exit a home immediately, and not try to put out a fire themselves
Description of Strategy/Intervention
For the social marketing component of the campaign, a multi-platform media strategy would be implemented. A 15-second video advertisement demonstrating smoke alarm testing was created and used as the primary visual in the campaign https://youtu.be/LPpcQJlhgN4 The FireSafe campaign used the messaging and brand platform of the organization’s Yellow Lines campaign platform. The organization creates new campaign “platforms” with unique slogans every 3-4 years. Yellow Lines ran from 2022 to 2025. FireSafe campaign messaging was created to seamlessly integrate with the existing Yellow Lines campaign messaging that was in-market at the time, simultaneously adding a new dimension while benefiting from the ongoing brand and slogan recognition. For the door-knocking component of the project, 20,000 smoke alarms were purchased, with an additional 500 were donated by Kidde. The first phase targeted residences in high-risk neighbourhoods, as determined by data from the Community Fire Risk Reduction Dashboard, a resource developed by Statistics Canada in partnership with the BC Government. After looking at high-risk neighbourhoods, corresponding local Fire Departments were invited to participate. Fire Departments were provided with smoke alarms, talking points, information brochures, and door-hanger cards. The second phase expanded the project to neighbourhoods that were deemed medium risk. Additional Fire Departments were invited to participate until all 20,500 smoke alarms were distributed.
Implementation
Door-knocking began in July 2024. Fire Departments send firefighters or local volunteers to knock on doors in high-risk neighbourhoods. A home visit includes the following: • If the resident is home, they will provide fire safety information, and ask if they can enter the home to conduct a smoke alarm inspection. o If no smoke alarm(s) is present in the usual areas, the firefighter can offer to install one, or replace the existing unit if it has expired or is non-functional. • If the resident is not home, firefighters will leave an information brochure and a door-hanger card with a call-back number to schedule another visit. Fire Departments are asked to complete a data collection form after each home visit, which gathers information on postal code, location and number of smoke alarms inspected and/or replaced, age of the dwelling, and demographic information (including whether children (<6) or older adults (65+) are present). Additional smoke alarms are distributed through public safety events, such as community fairs, and when individuals visit the fire station. As of June 2026, 45 Fire Departments across the province are participating in the project. More than 6,500 homes have been visited, with more than 3,000 smoke alarms checked, and more than 4,000 installed and/or replaced. The ad campaign ran for two four-week periods: Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, to coincide with Fire Prevention Week and Burn Awareness Week, respectively. Content was shared on the following channels: • TV – Paid 15s https://youtu.be/LPpcQJlhgN4 • Connected TV, Amazon Video and YouTube ads – included a targeted campaign to high-risk postal codes • Digital Display ads – gifs • Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok – video and gifs Through a partnership with the province’s leading media company, Corus, additional editorial opportunities were made available on TV. • Fire Safety Facts in morning news programming https://youtu.be/ITYkfYMcP5Y • 15s Fire Safety PSA with media personality Mark Madryga https://youtu.be/04bJ1LEOaQk • Sponsorship of the weekly OurBC events calendar • 10s closed captioning sponsorship • News segment with a firefighter in the regular “Open House” series • Tent cards and digital signage in BC Liquor and Cannabis Stores A total of 11.8 million impressions were delivered over the two campaign periods, much higher than the planned 4.7 million. Paid GRPs over-delivered. The campaign earned more than $356,000 in added value from editorial content. The digital component of the campaign overdelivered on planned impressions, and exceeded benchmarks/goals.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The organization has conducted 1-3 surveys a year since 2009, in order to monitor sentiment and recall of the ad campaign elements, as well as track attitudes and beliefs towards preventable injuries, and self-reported safety behaviour. The questionnaires are a representative sample of the BC population aged 25-54, have a total of 600 participants, and aim for equal representation across ages, gender, and region. Questions to evaluate FireSafe were added to the Spring 2023 (pre-FireSafe implementation) and Fall 2023 (post-FireSafe implementation) surveys. FireSafe questions were not included in the Summer 2024 survey, as the Spring 2024 FireSafe campaign was an add-on beyond the Fall 2023 campaign, and the survey was conducted too long after the conclusion of the FireSafe campaign, which would have impacted recall of the ads (best practice is to deploy the survey shortly after a campaign ends). Recall of the 2023 FireSafe ads were 17% overall, which was lower than the general Yellow Lines ads (22%). This is understandable, considering the short nature of the FireSafe campaign. Use of the Yellow Lines branding and messaging in FireSafe aided recall. Opinions of FireSafe ads were similar to the General Ads and performed above norms; FireSafe performed better than the General campaign on being enjoyable, improving familiarity of injuries, told me something new, and informative. Specific questions asked about smoke alarm installation and testing. When asked, “Are your smoke alarm(s) in working condition?”, those who had seen a FireSafe ad were more likely to report that they have a smoke alarm installed in their home that is in good working condition, than those who had not seen the ads (94% who saw ad vs 86% who did not). When asked, “When was the last time you or someone else tested your smoke alarm?” A greater proportion of those who saw the ad, reported they had tested their smoke alarm(s) in the last year, compared to non-recallers (94% who saw ad, 88% who did not). There were changes in self-reported behaviour when a fire begins to spread, from pre-FireSafe to post-FireSafe. Two statements had a 3% change: – Leave the house: 54% pre, 57% post-campaign [increase; good to do first/second] – Try to extinguish the fire: 38% pre, 35% post-campaign [decrease; bad to do] The statements Call 9-1-1, Pull the fire alarm, quickly collect possessions or pets, had a fewer than 3% change. Those who recalled General or FireSafe ads were more likely to have a fire escape plan in place, compared to non-recallers (65% vs 55% respectively). An evaluation is currently underway to analyze the number of fires, fire-related injuries, and proportion of fires that extended beyond the room of origin. Pre-intervention (door-knocking/campaign) and post-intervention data will be compared. The team will also compare these variables with neighbourhoods who participated in the project with those who did not participate. Preliminary results could be available in Fall 2026, dependent on data access.
Entry Number: 04