From Aviva Canada,

In the early morning hours of August 3rd lightning struck the Residence Domain Boise, a senior citizen's retirement facility in Gatineau, Quebec, which was insured by Aviva. A fire was ignited in the residence and over 70 firefighters responded. All of the residents were evacuated safely, quickly and without serious injury.

This dangerous incident could have turned into a tragedy if Shawn Brown's loss control recommendations were not followed. Fortunately, one year prior to the fire, in August, 2005, Shawn Brown, Sr. Loss Control Representative, Ottawa office, surveyed and inspected the Residence Domain Boise and made these recommendations:

Although the fire alarm system is tested annually, as the present time, documented fire drills are not held. For improved risk management it is recommended that documented fire drills be held on a minimum of an annual basis with records of these drills maintained.

At the time of this visit, there were no smoke detectors provided in unit #247 A&B. Smoke detectors should be provided in each unit, at each floor level. Once installed the detectors should be tested on a minimum of an annual basis.

The owner of the property promptly complied with Aviva's recommendations and began conducting fire drills for the residents.

The property is insured with Aviva, through broker Paul Landry Jr. of Paul Landry Insurance. Paul said, "The positive outcome in this incident is that everyone was able to evacuate from the residence without serious injury. Together, the fire safety laws and the enforcement of these codes and recommendations by Shawn Brown of Aviva, clearly resulted in fire drills being conducted, and in turn, a safe evacuation."

A resident was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying, "There was a lot of smoke, but everything went smoothly because we have fire drills."