Emergency and Fire Services

Headquarters

The Clarington Emergency and Fire Services Headquarters (formerly Shaw House) is located at 156 Church Street in Bowmanville, and is staffed by administrative, fire prevention, and training personnel.

Fire Stations

Clarington has five accredited fire stations located in specific areas within the Municipality to provide the best emergency response and cover a large geographic area. Every fire station has at least a pumper and a tanker truck. Additional pumper trucks, aerial trucks, rescue trucks and specialized equipment are located throughout the Municipality to assist in operations.

Station 1

Located at 2430 Highway 2 in Bowmanville, Station 1 is a composite fire station with full-time and volunteer firefighters. 

Station 1 is the location of Hope's Cradle, a place where parents may safely surrender an infant. A parent wishing to use this service can come to the unmonitored Hope’s Cradle Surrender Site. Inside the door, they will find a bassinet to place the surrendered baby in and an information package for them to take. The package contains a medical form for the baby’s history and an addressed prepaid envelope. The parent will also receive information about the local support available to them, how the process works, and their rights should they change their mind. Once they leave the child and close the door, firefighters will get an alert that a baby has been placed in the cradle and will retrieve the infant. Paramedics will be called to do a health evaluation of the child and transport to Bowmanville Hospital. Children’s Aid Society is contacted and will consult with Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child and Family Services as needed regarding the future care of the infant.

Station 2

Located at 3333 Highway 2 in Newcastle, Station 2 is a composite fire station staffed by both full-time and volunteer firefighters.

Station 3

Station 3 is located at 5708 Main Street in Orono and is staffed by volunteer firefighters.

Station 4

Located at 2611 Trulls Road in Courtice, Station 4 is a composite fire station staffed by both full-time and volunteer firefighters.

Station 5

Station 5 is located at 2354 Concession Road 8 in Enniskillen and is staffed by volunteer firefighters.

At Station 2 and Station 4, small groups of up to three people are welcome to drop in for a tour with firefighters.

Please submit a tour request for groups larger than three people using the Service Clarington portal. The Fire Prevention Team will arrange your tour at Station 2, 3, 4, or 5.

The Fire Master Plan is a document that provides the groundwork and vision for the operations of the fire department. It guides Council as it makes decisions regarding the delivery of fire protection services based on the Municipality's local needs and circumstances.

• Read the Fire Master Plan

Our vision

A community free from loss of life, injuries and property damage.

Our mission

An innovative service dedicated to protecting our community through education, prevention, and emergency response.

Our core values

Professionalism: A commitment to excellence in everything we do.

Integrity: Dedicated to honesty and accountability while holding ourselves to a high ethical standard.

Compassion: Devoted to treating people with dignity and kindness.

In 1974, Clarke and Darlington Townships merged as a result of regional amalgamation. They formed the Town of Newcastle. The three local fire departments also joined and formed the Town of Newcastle Fire Department. Since that time, the department has evolved and grown into a composite fire service, made up of full-time and volunteer or part-time firefighters.

Today, Clarington Emergency and Fire Services operate from five fire stations. Two additional stations were built as the community expanded, one in Courtice in 1979 and the other in Enniskillen in 1989.

Community safety is our number one concern, and that priority is reflected in the following legislation.

Smoke alarm law

Every home in Ontario must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas.

• Homeowners must install and maintain smoke alarms on every storey of their home and outside all sleeping areas.
• Landlords must ensure their rental properties comply with the law.
• Tenants should contact their property owner immediately if their apartment or condo does not have the required number of smoke alarms. It is against the law for tenants to remove the batteries or tamper with the alarm in any way.

Failure to comply with the Fire Code smoke alarm requirements could result in a ticket for $235 or a fine of up to $50,000 for individuals or $100,000 for corporations.

Carbon monoxide law

Carbon monoxide alarms are mandatory in all homes across Ontario, and Clarington Emergency and Fire Services recommend installing at least one on every storey of your home.

If your home has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage, you must have a working carbon monoxide alarm outside each sleeping area. Fuel-burning appliances include furnaces, hot water heaters, gas or wood fireplaces, portable fuel-burning heaters and generators, barbecues, stoves and vehicles.

If you live in an apartment or condo building with a fuel-burning appliance, install a carbon monoxide alarm beside each sleeping area. If your building has a service room, carbon monoxide alarms must be installed in the service room and adjacent to every sleeping area above, below and beside the service room. If there is a garage, carbon monoxide alarms must be installed beside each sleeping area above, below and beside the garage.

Learn more about carbon monoxide on the TSSA website.

Move Over Law

The "move over law" protects first responders from traffic.

When approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights flashing, slow down and proceed with caution. Move into another lane if you can do so safely. Pay attention to traffic, the road conditions and the weather to ensure that you do not collide with the emergency vehicle or endanger any person outside the emergency vehicle.

Following a fire department vehicle

Drivers must stay at least 150 metres back from a fire department vehicle responding to an alarm. If you can stop safely behind an emergency services vehicle, you must do so.

Fines

Anyone found guilty of an offence is liable for:

• A fine of not less than $400 and not more than $2,000 for a first offence.
• A fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $4,000 and imprisonment up to six months for each subsequent offence.

There are also Municipal by-laws that regulate in-home apartments and open-air burning.

Log in to the Service Clarington portal to make your request. 

You can request a file search for outstanding Ontario Fire Code violations against a property through our Service Clarington portal. Clarington Emergency and Fire Services must receive written authorization from the property owner or a copy of the Offer to Purchase stating that a file search must be conducted. If a fire inspection is requested, written authorization from the property owner must be provided. Payment must be received in full before we can process your request.

A file search costs $150 plus HST for buildings up to four units. An additional fee of $25 per unit plus HST applies for requests with buildings over the first four units.

A fire incident report is a routine disclosure request summarizing information about a specific incident; a file search is not a fire incident report.

For requests that require information beyond what is provided in the file search or fire incident report summary, please complete the Freedom of Information request. 

Requests for a general fire inspection of a property can be submitted directly to the Fire Prevention Office. You must provide written authorization from the property owner, along with the appropriate payment. Please note, we will not charge a fee for a fire safety inspection of a single-family home.

It is the property owner's responsibility to ensure that all requirements of the Ontario Fire Code are followed.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms will chirp to indicate an abnormal condition: low battery, alarm malfunction, hush feature activated, end of life indicator, or wireless interference.  Your owner's manual will explain the beep patterns. If you do not have the owner's manual, they are available online at the manufacturer’s website. 

The fire service no longer fills or services fire extinguishers. Check online for fire extinguisher service providers in your area.

To schedule a fire drill, contact a member of the Fire Prevention team at 905-623-5126.

Immediately pull your vehicle over as close as possible to the right-hand curb or edge of the road without blocking an intersection. If you're on a one-way street with more than two lanes, pull over to the nearest curb or edge, clear of an intersection.

It is illegal to follow within 150 metres of a fire vehicle responding to an alarm. 

Vehicles must not park within three metres of a fire hydrant.

Clarington firefighters have Emergency Medical Responder training and follow medical directives, which allows them to respond to various medical calls.

On-duty crews must always be ready to respond to an emergency call. Firefighters also visit buildings to familiarize themselves with building layout and access points in case they need to respond to an emergency.

This is called ventilation. It helps remove smoke, superheated, poisonous and explosive gases for firefighter safety and visibility. It also allows firefighters to get inside the building to find and extinguish the fire, reducing property damage. It can also reduce the chance of a possible dangerous explosion. 

We block traffic lanes for the safety of our crews and patients. Blocking extra lanes provides a safe working area for firefighters while accessing equipment, providing patient care, or conducting an extrication. Many firefighters are killed or injured each year while working at incidents on streets and highways. 

Fire trucks are strategically positioned to make sure vehicles slow down and change lanes accordingly when they approach an emergency scene. It also establishes a safe work zone for emergency responders. Fire trucks often park on the road during fire emergencies because there is nowhere else for them to go. 

Driving over fire hoses can cause damage to the hose and interrupt the flow of water being used for firefighting. It could cause injuries or even death. Any hose that is driven over without protection must be taken out of service and tested. 

Weeds and bushes should be kept three feet from fire hydrants for visibility and accessibility. 

Fire Services do not typically assist in rescuing animals. You can contact Animal Services at 905-623-3379. 

Get out of the house. Call 9-1-1 from a cell phone or a neighbour’s house. Using a phone inside your home could cause the gas to ignite.

Emergency calls represent a small percentage of the work firefighters perform. The number of fires has steadily decreased over the years due to improvements in construction, a greater public awareness of the risk factors leading to fires, and a significant reduction in smoking nationwide.

Clarington Emergency and Fire Services respond to a variety of emergencies. Nearly 70 per cent of the calls we respond to are medical responses. Other calls for emergency response involve:

• Hazardous material releases
• Technical rescues
• Motor vehicle collisions
• Response to fire alarms
• Calls for public assistance

Firefighters also spend a lot of time maintaining equipment, training, conducting in-service inspections, and doing associated administrative work.

Depending on the size of a fire, it can take many firefighters to complete various roles at the scene. These tasks can put firefighters and the public at risk. We set up a command and control approach when managing a fire scene to ensure public safety and the occupational health and safety of firefighters responding to the fire.