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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 12, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCOR Circ. Manager Be safe this holiday The holidays are supposed to be about sharing good times with friends and family, not attending funerals following a preventable tragedy. In the aftermath of 11 fire-related deaths in Ontario since Nov. 1, Ontario Fire Marshal Pat Burke joined Toronto's fire chief to urge Ontarians to make fire safety their top priority this holiday season. "We're concerned that this holiday season could be one of the worst yet for fire fatalities," said Burke at a recent news conference. "Eleven fire deaths already is a troubling start to the holidays. We want everyone around the province to have a safe and happy holiday season and that begins with fire safety." Historically, the winter holiday season is one of the deadliest times of the year for home fires. The most common causes of fires during the holidays are candles and careless cooking. Alcohol is often a contributing factor. "With the hustle and bustle of the season, people too easily become distracted," said Stewart. "A fire can start and grow out of control in mere seconds. People need to keep an eye on their cooking, keep candles away from combustible materials and make sure there are working smoke alarms on every storey of the home." The recent news conference included demonstrations on safe cooking practices and safe candle use, as well as information on the proper installation and maintenance of smoke alarms. Key holiday fire safety tips emphasized this week include: · Always stay in the kitchen when something is cooking on the stove; · Keep a lid by the stove so that if a fire does start, you can slide the lid over the pot to extinguish it; · Place lit candles away from anything that can burn and out of the reach of children and pets who might accidentally knock them over. Remember to snuff out candles before leaving the room or going to bed; · Drink responsibly. Cooking or smoking while under the influence of alcohol is too often a contributing factor in fatal fires; · Develop and practise a home fire escape plan so that everyone in your home knows what to do if the smoke alarms sound. Fire departments have been warning of the dangers of candle misuse for years. A candle left unattended in a basement was the suspected cause of one recent Halton fire that left seven people homeless. In the same incident, the property's owner was ticketed for failing to provide at least one smoke alarm on each level of the commercial/residential property. Failing to provide a working smoke alarm on each level of a residential property can carry a $325 fine. Removing smoke alarm batteries to avoid nuisance alarms and then forgetting to replace them is a common homeowner error that can have tragic consequences. Don't become a statistic. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Block fees is voluntary: OMA Re: Family docs turning to block fees to increase revenues, The Oakville Beaver, Nov. 23 - Is There a Doctor in the House? It is important to point out when discussing block fees that participation is voluntary. For varying reasons, patients may choose to take advantage of lower costs and less administration that paying an annual fee may offer. Some doctors may choose to offer this servicebundling of uninsured services to streamline the paperwork process in their offices allowing them to spend more time delivering care. Programs such as this may even save patients money rather than paying for nonOHIP services individually. A family with two children who require notes for camp, day care or travel cancellation insurance may benefit. The OMA encourages doctors to consider the ability of families to pay so that patients do not feel unnecessary financial strain in order to access non-OHIP covered services. At the end of the day, patients should discuss any questions or concerns with such voluntary plans with their doctor's office. DR. JANICE WILLETT PRESIDENT, ONTARIO MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.