The Tillsonburg connection to Ontario’s new fire prevention mascot

Ontario Deputy Fire Marshal John McBeth presents Tillsonburg Fire Department Fire Public Educator Sarah Barclay with a challenge coin for her efforts in developing Beepa, the province’s new fire safety mascot. (Jeff Helsdon Photo).

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

A Tillsonburg firefighter was honoured by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office for her contribution to fire safety with the idea for a new mascot.

Enter Beepa.

Beepa is the province’s new fire safety mascot. Modelled after a smoke and carbon monoxide detector outfitted in firefighter bunker gear, Beepa is more than just a feel-good fuzzy mascot – pushing its nose sets off warnings similar to a detector going off.

Tillsonburg Fire Department Public Educator Sarah Barclay came up with the concept for Beepa. To recognize her contribution, Deputy Fire Marshall John McBeth stopped in Tillsonburg Monday morning as the first stop on a week-long provincial tour to promote Test Your Smoke Alarm Day on Sept. 28. McBeth presented Barclay with an Ontario Fire Marshall’s challenge coin in appreciation for her efforts.

Beepa has been quickly adopted by fire services across the province and is catching on across the nation.

The Toronto Blue Jays are fire safety supporters, and more than one million colouring sheets for school children were produced with Ace, the Blue Jays mascot, Beepa, and Sparky, the former fire safety mascot. Beepa is being made as mascots sent out to fire departments, as plush toys (with an operating nose) for use in fire safety in schools, as keychains, and is an integral part of the fire safety campaign.

Beepa’s roots are all Tillsonburg. Admitting she is not a fan of Sparky, Barclay’s vision was for an interactive mascot that would help demonstrate to children about fire safety. She was pretty new to the role as fire educator and was at a fire conference three years ago in Toronto when her colleagues ran into Jamie Kovacs, executive director of the Fire Marhal’s Public Fire Safety Council and a Tillsonburg native. Barclay was encouraged to share her idea.

Kovacs embraced the idea. He worked with Barclay to design the mascot, which launched two years ago. Although he assisted with the design and, more recently, the promotion of Beepa, Kovacs gave full credit to Barclay for the idea.

“It’s all because of her,” he said.

McBeth explained Beepa will be part of this year’s campaign with the focus on smoke alarms and the family.

“Beepa is the way we’ll get fire safety into the classrooms and the kids will take it home,” he said.

One of Barclay’s memories of school was the opportunity to take home the plushy toy and create a diary for it. She sees Beepa can fill this role and educate about fire safety at the same time.

McBeth said having messages that are relevant to the intended audience is essential.

“Having a walking, talking mascot where they can take the nose off and it’s a fire alarm makes an impression,” he said.

Beepa will be an integral part of the fire safety campaign sent out to educators in coming days.

“We’ve got teachers chomping at the bit to present it to their students,” McBeth said.

Kovacs said getting through to the younger generation is essential.

“We talk to the kids about this the most because they’re their parent’s police,” he said.

Barclay said the critical thing with Beepa is it works. She told the story of a local family who had a young child who was startled by an alarm and had to attend therapy. Then, an alarm went off due to a low battery, reigniting the fears. It’s hoped that seeing Beepa in a low-stress situation can help.

“This week we are going to go with a Beepa plushy, explain why they make the noise they do, and explain why they are important,” Barclay said, hoping this will help the family avoid repeating costly therapy.

Kovacs gave credit to small-town ingenuity and said members of small departments often have good ideas. Beepa is an example of how successful sharing those ideas can be.

Tillsonburg Fire Chief Scott Tegler praised Barclay for her enthusiasm.

“It’s a wonderful thing for the deputy fire marshal and Jamie to recognize Sarah’s efforts,” he said.