Stouffville joins 10 other municipalities to ban sky lanterns
YorkRegion.com
Aug. 24, 2016
By Ali Raza
It might be a good luck charm, but it’s been known bring misfortune in the form of a fire hazard.
Whitchurch-Stouffville town council banned the use of sky lanterns in the municipality yesterday after a presentation highlighting their risk by fire chief Rob McKenzie.
A sky lantern, also known as a flying lantern or Chinese lantern, is a small hot air balloon made from paper. The lantern has an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. The rise of hot air then forces the lantern to “fly” or “float” through the air.
The issue is the user has no control over the height or direction the sky lantern will travel, McKenzie said. These lanterns can travel great distances and heights. The problem becomes compounded when it keeps burning and, of course, the threat multiplies when sky lanterns are released en masse.
Sky lanterns are traditionally used for celebrations and are seen as good luck charms.
In 2014, Newmarket resident Helga Schimanski found a sky lantern that had burned her front garden. The incident prompted Newmarket to ban the lanterns.
As of 2016, 10 municipalities in Ontario have banned sky lanterns: Toronto, Ottawa, Mississauga, London, Newmarket, Markham, Kingsville, City of Kawartha Lakes, Windsor and Chatham Kent.
Across the country, Saskatoon, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island have also banned sky lanterns.
McKenzie cited examples from the United Kingdom and the United States, where a plastic recycling plant caught fire because of a sky lantern and caused $9 million in losses. Three vacation homes were destroyed when sky lantern landing on a roof.
