The Madawaska Valley Fire Department says out of 86 homes inspected for fire safety, only 16 passed.
Fire Chief Corwin Quade says the numbers speak for themselves, residents aren’t taking fire safety seriously.
He says the fine as of January 2017 is now $300 for non-compliance.
Inversely, it costs the fire department thousands to respond to a call but only $20 to hand out a C-O detector and smoke alarm.
Quade says many residents don’t know it’s the law to have both an operating smoke alarm and C-O detector, hence why the fire department has been handing them out during inspections.
Despite the harsh fines for non-compliance Quade says not a single one has been handed out, but that could change given the high failure rate of homes in the area.
Quade says laying out a fire-escape plan for your family takes as little as five minutes, the same amount of time you have to get out of your home if there’s a fire.
The fire department will pick up inspections again next month.
More information on fire codes and safety can be found here.