By Canadian Press

Officials warn about carbon monoxide poisonings that kill dozens every year

Dec 20, 2018 | 9:00 AM

At least 50 Canadians a year die of carbon monoxide poisoning and health officials are stressing the importance of installing proper detectors as we head into winter.

Michael Lewis, New Brunswick’s acting fire marshal, said there were 414 fatalities in Canada related to carbon monoxide between 2000 and 2007.

Kenny Clement of Saint-Leolin, N.B., said every time the power goes out, he thinks of his sister who died two years ago from carbon monoxide poisoning.

“We thought that the installation was fine, and it was fine, but there was just one thing about where the generator was located, the carbon monoxide … had risen upstairs,” he said. 

“She didn’t smell no gas, nothing. She went upstairs to get something. She never came out.”

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There was a spike in carbon monoxide poisonings this month in British Columbia, prompting health officials there to also urge the use of carbon monoxide detectors.

A family of five from Barriere, B.C., was airlifted to hospital in Vancouver in serious but stable condition. Two of the family members were unconscious when they were pulled from their home, and monitors worn by paramedics indicated high levels of the gas.

Just the day before, 13 people with carbon monoxide poisoning were taken to hospital in Vancouver as a result of a problem with their building’s boiler.

In February, RCMP said a faulty water heater was to blame for a buildup of carbon-monoxide in a Calgary-area apartment block that killed a 12-year-old boy. The child was taken to hospital in critical condition and died.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, said the gas is odourless and tasteless, and particularly dangerous if you’re sleeping.

She said if you’re awake, you may suffer symptoms such as a headache, weakness, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath and confusion.

“If you’re sleeping, you wouldn’t be experiencing those things. That’s when there’s more danger. You’ve gone to bed and you don’t know the levels are rising. You don’t know you’re getting symptoms, and therefore you don’t leave your home,” she said. 

Lewis said incidents rise in winter because of heating system problems, and the improper use of generators during power outages.

“In less than seven minutes, a standard three-kilowatt generator in a well-ventilated apartment can bring carbon monoxide to fatal levels,” he said. 

“Generators are never safe to be used inside a garage or any closed space. Even with garage doors and windows open it is not adequate ventilation.”

As of 2010, a national building code made it mandatory for new homes to be fitted with carbon monoxide detectors, but there’s no such rule for older homes.

On Wednesday, Airbnb said it wants more of its rental properties to have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

The San Francisco-based company is now alerting guests before they book a property if the host hasn’t reported having a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm.  

Lewis said the only defence is a carbon monoxide detector, and for $25 to $70 it could save your life.

“Any number of heating devices and heating fuels cause carbon monoxide including wood, oil, natural gas, propane, coal and diesel. Any fuel that involves hydrocarbon or carbon-based fuel creates carbon monoxide,” said Lewis.

“That’s why it’s so important that any home using a carbon-based fuel have an installed and working carbon monoxide alarm.”

Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press