Kingsville bans flying lanterns due to 'safety concern'

The Town of Kingsville has banned flying lanterns after some have been found in yards and still on fire after their flight.

The lanterns and mini hot-air balloons use the heat of a small flame to gently rise into the sky. They're often used for outdoor celebrations and memorials.

The sky lanterns are only remain airborne for as long as the flame burns, after which it sinks back to the ground.

Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos said the latest wayward lantern was "still glowing" when it landed in a residential backyard.

"They weren't sure where it came it from but it landed in a residential backyard and the concern was what if it had landed on the person's roof or near another piece of flammable material. It raises a health and safety concern for the community," Santos said.

Kingsville is not the only town to raise concerns about the sky lanterns.

Council heard there has been growing concern in the U.K., too, because of their potential to cause crop fires or harm animals that may eat them.

Fire marshal calls for ban

The Ontario Fire Marshal as late as 2009 said the lanterns "posed a serious fire safety hazard."

"Due to their uncontrolled and unpredictable flight path, the lanterns can land on trees, building rooftops, or other combustible properties, while still ignited, and potentially cause a fire," the Ontario Fire Marshal said in a media release in September 2012.

The Ontario Fire Marshal encourages municipalities and fire departments to charge people under the Ontario Fire Code if the "owner" of the lantern can be determined.

According to the code, "devices having open flames shall be securely supported in non-combustible holders and located or protected so as to prevent accidental contact of the flame with combustible materials."

In 2012, the Ontario Fire Marshal said that Health Canada had conducted a study of flying lanterns in 2009 and concluded no regulatory action against the sale of flying lanterns was needed.

At that time, Health Canada said it had not received any reports of incidents or injuries related to the use of flying lanterns, but said it would continue to monitor the media for incidents.

Lanterns banned elsewhere

The lanterns have been banned in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

In June, a camping group in Northern Ontario also asked the lanterns be banned in the province. The Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association thinks they are a fire hazard.

Susan McLeod, the association's executive director, said the association knows of one incident last year in which a lantern landed on the property of a cottage owner and scorched the wall of a building.

"The new and improved flying lantern model from this summer is now able to fly 15 to 20 minutes," she said. "Which can take it miles into the forest, miles down the lake."

McLeod added the group will work with the communities of Kenora and Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls to see if they will consider a ban on the lanterns. The organization will also lobby the province.

A year ago, the Toronto Fire Department told CBC News it would support a ban of the product.

Toronto District Fire Chief Peter Derrington said he tried one of the lanterns once and didn't like what he saw.

"I realized once it got up, that I had lost control of it and there was a flame burning inside," he said.